Carolyn Turgeon
Author of Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale
About the Author
Image credit: photo by Joi Brozek, at Dollywood
Series
Works by Carolyn Turgeon
The Mermaid Handbook: An Alluring Treasury of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects (The Enchanted Library) (2018) 101 copies, 2 reviews
The Unicorn Handbook: A Spellbinding Collection of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects (The Enchanted Library) (2020) 57 copies, 1 review
The Faerie Handbook: An Enchanting Compendium of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects (2017) 20 copies, 1 review
Faerie Magazine, #36 Autumn 2016: Vintage & Victoriana (2016) — Editor-in-chief — 6 copies, 1 review
Faerie Magazine, #42 Spring 2018: The J.R.R. Tolkien Issue (2018) — Editor-in-chief — 5 copies, 1 review
Faerie Magazine, #38 Spring 2017: The Warriors & Goddesses Issue (2017) — Editor-in-chief — 4 copies, 1 review
Enchanted Living, #47 Summer 2019: The Art Nouveau Issue (2019) — Editor-in-chief — 3 copies, 1 review
Enchanted Living, #54 Spring 2021: The Faerie Queen Issue (2021) — Editor-in-chief — 2 copies, 1 review
Faerie Magazine, #39 Summer 2017: A Midsummer Faerie Court (2017) — Editor-in-chief — 2 copies, 1 review
Enchanted Living, #52 Autumn 2020: The Natural Magic Issue (2020) — Editor-in-chief — 2 copies, 1 review
Faerie Magazine, #44 Autumn 2018: Outlander Issue — Editor-in-chief — 2 copies
Faerie Magazine Issue 43 Summer 2018 (The Mermaid Issue) (2018) — Editor-in-chief — 2 copies, 1 review
Enchanted Living #73 1 copy
La Llorona 1 copy
Faerie Magazine, #37 Winter 2016: The Naughty & Nice Issue (2016) — Editor-in-chief — 1 copy, 1 review
Enchanted Living, #51 Summer 2020: The Magical Beasts Issue (2020) — Editor-in-chief — 1 copy, 1 review
Enchanted Living, #50 Spring 2020: The Pre-Raphaelite Issue (2020) — Editor-in-chief — 1 copy, 1 review
Associated Works
The Faerie Handbook: An Enchanting Compendium of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects (The Enchanted Library) (2017) — Editor in chief, some editions — 99 copies, 2 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Pennsylvania State University (English and Italian Literature)
University of California, Los Angeles (MA - Comparative Literature) - Occupations
- editor
- Agent
- Elaine Markson
Gary Johnson - Short biography
- I’m Carolyn Turgeon, and I’m the author of novels. I’m also the editor-in-chief/part owner of Enchanted Living (formerly Faerie Magazine), a quarterly print publication.
I love travel and adventure and have attended mermaid camp at Weeki Wachee (where I swam in a tail with glamorous mermaids and a wild manatee), spent five days at a witch camp in Woodstock, and was scuba certified in Corn Island, Nicaragua, by a dive instructor from Spain, then dove with sharks in the Bahamas. I’ve visited Italy numerous times to research a new novel (and was in a PhD program at UCLA way back when, studying medieval Italian poetry) and this past spring visited a count’s private archives in the same Florence library where Hannibal Lecter worked in the Thomas Harris books. [adapted from the website] - Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- North Carolina, USA
Members
Reviews
Originally posted at These Pretty Words.
I love me a good fairy tale. While I don’t consider myself an annoying girly-girl in that I need everything to be pink and frilly, I do concede the point that I’m a bit of a princess. I collect Cinderella memorabilia and find myself wandering into the Disney store under the guise of shopping for my niece (hint: she’s not even one. She doesn’t know who Cinderella is yet). Anywho, while I adore the Disneyfied versions of these tales, I’m far show more more intrigued by the original stories. Have you read the original versions? Grimm? Perrault? Andersen? They are morbid and sometimes scary, far from what most little girls today hear. When searching out material for my TBR list, I added a number of fairy-tale retellings. Mermaid is the second one I tackled and I’m happy to say, it’s the second one I’ve really enjoyed.
Mermaid, as you may have guessed, is a retelling of The Little Mermaid, the Hans Christian Andersen version, no Scuttle, Flounder or Sebastian in sight. When I picked this one up, the summary really caught my attention for one key reason: the story is told in alternating points of view, switching every chapter between the mermaid, Lenia, and the human princess, Margrethe, who finds the prince on the beach after Lenia saves him. If you know the tale, you’re aware that TLM is ultimately a bit of a tragedy, and Mermaid definitely sticks to the major plot points.
Lenia is a mermaid princess who is fascinated by the human world, more specifically, the “myth” that humans have souls, which allow them to “live” forever. Mermaids, on the other hand, have long lives but eventually turn to sea-foam and cease to exist altogether. She’s heard tales of when her kind mingled freely with the humans, but lives in a time when any interaction is strictly forbidden. Each mer-person is granted one day to visit the surface, though they must remain hidden. When Lenia’s day comes, she doesn’t waste a moment, swimming for the surface at midnight, despite the fact that there’s a raging storm. The young mermaid comes across a sinking ship and watches in fascination as sailors die all around her. Swimming through the wreckage, she finds one man who’s still alive and feels pulled to save him from the same fate of his crew.
Meanwhile, on land, we are introduced to Margrethe, a young princess who is being housed in disguise at a convent for her safety. Her father, the Northern King is convinced that the enemy Southern kingdom is gathering their forces, intending to attack. On the morning after the storm, Margrethe is out walking in the garden when she spots a mermaid, Lenia, carrying a man to shore. Lenia spots Margrethe and somehow calls to her to come and save the man.
The mysterious man turns out to be the prince of the Southern lands, Christopher, a fact Margrethe doesn’t find out until after a mild flirtation with the handsome stranger. When she discovers his identity, she flees, terrified that he will somehow find out who she is. Still, the young princess is drawn to the man a mermaid dropped into her lap, wondering why he was brought to her. When Christopher is well enough to travel, the two share a final (or so they think) goodbye with a very sweet kiss. By this point, I’m firmly on Team Margrethe.
Back under water, Lenia can’t stop thinking about the man she saved and visits the surface once more to see if she can find him again. Instead, she finds Margrethe. The two share a conversation, each clearly fascinated with the other, envious of the life the other woman leads.
Shortly after, Margrethe returns to her home land and Lenia strikes a bargain with the sea witch to allow her to become human. Here again, we see a very adult version of TLM because the trade-off for legs is having her tongue cut out and constant stabbing pain with every step she takes. Lenia bears her burden in hopes of gaining the prince’s love and his hand in marriage so that she may one day gain a soul of her very own.
Unaware of Lenia’s plan, Margrethe hatches one of her own. Convinced that the mermaid bringing the prince to her was a sign, she agrees to give herself in marriage to the Southern prince in exchange for peace between the two kingdoms. When she arrives in the Southern kingdom, she finds not only the Prince, but Lenia as well.
What really caught my interest about this telling is that you get two equal sides of the story. Neither of these women are the “wrong choice.” They both have their good and bad qualities but each loves the prince in their own way and neither holds a grudge against the woman competing for his hand. Typically I’m not a fan of love triangles. I like to choose a side and solidly support that choice. In this story, I wanted to choose a side, but the writing and the characters pushed me to consider both options equally.
If you’re a fairy tale lover like me, I’d highly recommend this book. It’s a quick read but packed with good stuff. While it’s not overly erotic, it is definitely an adult version of the familiar tale, woven in a beautiful way that will challenge your allegiance. show less
I love me a good fairy tale. While I don’t consider myself an annoying girly-girl in that I need everything to be pink and frilly, I do concede the point that I’m a bit of a princess. I collect Cinderella memorabilia and find myself wandering into the Disney store under the guise of shopping for my niece (hint: she’s not even one. She doesn’t know who Cinderella is yet). Anywho, while I adore the Disneyfied versions of these tales, I’m far show more more intrigued by the original stories. Have you read the original versions? Grimm? Perrault? Andersen? They are morbid and sometimes scary, far from what most little girls today hear. When searching out material for my TBR list, I added a number of fairy-tale retellings. Mermaid is the second one I tackled and I’m happy to say, it’s the second one I’ve really enjoyed.
Mermaid, as you may have guessed, is a retelling of The Little Mermaid, the Hans Christian Andersen version, no Scuttle, Flounder or Sebastian in sight. When I picked this one up, the summary really caught my attention for one key reason: the story is told in alternating points of view, switching every chapter between the mermaid, Lenia, and the human princess, Margrethe, who finds the prince on the beach after Lenia saves him. If you know the tale, you’re aware that TLM is ultimately a bit of a tragedy, and Mermaid definitely sticks to the major plot points.
Lenia is a mermaid princess who is fascinated by the human world, more specifically, the “myth” that humans have souls, which allow them to “live” forever. Mermaids, on the other hand, have long lives but eventually turn to sea-foam and cease to exist altogether. She’s heard tales of when her kind mingled freely with the humans, but lives in a time when any interaction is strictly forbidden. Each mer-person is granted one day to visit the surface, though they must remain hidden. When Lenia’s day comes, she doesn’t waste a moment, swimming for the surface at midnight, despite the fact that there’s a raging storm. The young mermaid comes across a sinking ship and watches in fascination as sailors die all around her. Swimming through the wreckage, she finds one man who’s still alive and feels pulled to save him from the same fate of his crew.
Meanwhile, on land, we are introduced to Margrethe, a young princess who is being housed in disguise at a convent for her safety. Her father, the Northern King is convinced that the enemy Southern kingdom is gathering their forces, intending to attack. On the morning after the storm, Margrethe is out walking in the garden when she spots a mermaid, Lenia, carrying a man to shore. Lenia spots Margrethe and somehow calls to her to come and save the man.
The mysterious man turns out to be the prince of the Southern lands, Christopher, a fact Margrethe doesn’t find out until after a mild flirtation with the handsome stranger. When she discovers his identity, she flees, terrified that he will somehow find out who she is. Still, the young princess is drawn to the man a mermaid dropped into her lap, wondering why he was brought to her. When Christopher is well enough to travel, the two share a final (or so they think) goodbye with a very sweet kiss. By this point, I’m firmly on Team Margrethe.
Back under water, Lenia can’t stop thinking about the man she saved and visits the surface once more to see if she can find him again. Instead, she finds Margrethe. The two share a conversation, each clearly fascinated with the other, envious of the life the other woman leads.
Shortly after, Margrethe returns to her home land and Lenia strikes a bargain with the sea witch to allow her to become human. Here again, we see a very adult version of TLM because the trade-off for legs is having her tongue cut out and constant stabbing pain with every step she takes. Lenia bears her burden in hopes of gaining the prince’s love and his hand in marriage so that she may one day gain a soul of her very own.
Unaware of Lenia’s plan, Margrethe hatches one of her own. Convinced that the mermaid bringing the prince to her was a sign, she agrees to give herself in marriage to the Southern prince in exchange for peace between the two kingdoms. When she arrives in the Southern kingdom, she finds not only the Prince, but Lenia as well.
What really caught my interest about this telling is that you get two equal sides of the story. Neither of these women are the “wrong choice.” They both have their good and bad qualities but each loves the prince in their own way and neither holds a grudge against the woman competing for his hand. Typically I’m not a fan of love triangles. I like to choose a side and solidly support that choice. In this story, I wanted to choose a side, but the writing and the characters pushed me to consider both options equally.
If you’re a fairy tale lover like me, I’d highly recommend this book. It’s a quick read but packed with good stuff. While it’s not overly erotic, it is definitely an adult version of the familiar tale, woven in a beautiful way that will challenge your allegiance. show less
There is a hazy quality to Rain Village that disguises the harsher aspects of Tessa’s world. Everything from her familial relationships to her time at the circus is impressionistic. Readers get the idea of what happens without having to deal with exacting details. It is very much a coping mechanism for Tessa that spills over into the rest of the novel, one that causes the novel to be more picturesque than it really should be given everything that happens to her over the course of her show more childhood. Still, the dream-like quality of the narrative works well given the larger-than-life personality of Mary and the fantastic aspects of the circus. There is poetry to the prose that beautifies the imagery and events, making this coming-of-age story even more special.
Tessa is an amazing girl. While the psychological damage done to her by the verbal and physical abuse heaped on her by her family is great indeed and an obvious aspect of her character, she does not understand what it means to give in to despair. She risks her body and her life not only to escape the pain of her childhood but also to prove to herself that she is more than her outward appearance. It is both admirable and painful to watch her tear herself to pieces, literally and figuratively, in order to heal.
The psychology behind Rain Village is intriguing. Not only does Tessa harbor scars from her past, Mary does as well. The mystery behind Mary’s scars is what fuels Tessa and yet prevents her from moving on with her life. In many ways, Mary’s presence in her life is just as damaging to Tessa’s psyche as her father’s physical and mother’s verbal abuse for the simple fact that Tessa cannot let Mary rest in peace. She cannot move forward with her life as a wife and star performer because she is still stuck in the past with Mary – the one person who is most responsible for her rescue. It is an unexpected twist in what appears to be a fairly straightforward story.
Rain Village at its heart is a very simple story about a girl who overcomes adversity through her own tenacity and the guidance of an amazing and eclectic woman. Underneath its surface though lies a morass of psychological and spiritual complications that drive Tessa’s determination and yet cause her growth to halt. It is fascinating take on the nature versus nurture debate of child-rearing, but most importantly, it is a beautiful story about the power of love. show less
Tessa is an amazing girl. While the psychological damage done to her by the verbal and physical abuse heaped on her by her family is great indeed and an obvious aspect of her character, she does not understand what it means to give in to despair. She risks her body and her life not only to escape the pain of her childhood but also to prove to herself that she is more than her outward appearance. It is both admirable and painful to watch her tear herself to pieces, literally and figuratively, in order to heal.
The psychology behind Rain Village is intriguing. Not only does Tessa harbor scars from her past, Mary does as well. The mystery behind Mary’s scars is what fuels Tessa and yet prevents her from moving on with her life. In many ways, Mary’s presence in her life is just as damaging to Tessa’s psyche as her father’s physical and mother’s verbal abuse for the simple fact that Tessa cannot let Mary rest in peace. She cannot move forward with her life as a wife and star performer because she is still stuck in the past with Mary – the one person who is most responsible for her rescue. It is an unexpected twist in what appears to be a fairly straightforward story.
Rain Village at its heart is a very simple story about a girl who overcomes adversity through her own tenacity and the guidance of an amazing and eclectic woman. Underneath its surface though lies a morass of psychological and spiritual complications that drive Tessa’s determination and yet cause her growth to halt. It is fascinating take on the nature versus nurture debate of child-rearing, but most importantly, it is a beautiful story about the power of love. show less
This is the story of Rapunzel, sort of. It starts much like the usual Rapunzel fairy tale. All her life Rapunzel has been told by the woman Mathena, that Mathena had rescued Rapunzel from a mother who only wanted to eat the plant Rapunzel, which, coincidently only grew in Mathena’s garden. But, while that’s where the character’s story starts, the novel actually starts when Rapunzel is an older teen. There’s the prince that comes around and there’s even a tower, although it’s not show more quite used as it has been in other Rapunzel tales. She still has her hair, and although it is used in some of the same ways as the original story, there was also a surprise twist regarding the hair that I really liked and which made a lot of sense.
The heart of the story is its relationships though. That of Mathena and Rapunzel, Josef (the Prince) and Rapunzel, not to mention the various relationships that happen once she gets to the capitol city. I really liked how the author wrote all the relationships in the story, they all seemed real to me, never perfect, but not totally imperfect either. They had shades of gray in them, just like in real life.
Overall to me the book seemed like a cross between Tangled (a movie I quite like) and the Once Upon a Time TV show (which I love), although the book had much more sex than either the movie or TV show. And, I think that it’s just enough the same as those two creations that those who like either will like this book too.
I got this advanced galley through Netgalley on behalf of Touchstone hoping that I would review it. (Yeah, duh! Course I would...) show less
The heart of the story is its relationships though. That of Mathena and Rapunzel, Josef (the Prince) and Rapunzel, not to mention the various relationships that happen once she gets to the capitol city. I really liked how the author wrote all the relationships in the story, they all seemed real to me, never perfect, but not totally imperfect either. They had shades of gray in them, just like in real life.
Overall to me the book seemed like a cross between Tangled (a movie I quite like) and the Once Upon a Time TV show (which I love), although the book had much more sex than either the movie or TV show. And, I think that it’s just enough the same as those two creations that those who like either will like this book too.
I got this advanced galley through Netgalley on behalf of Touchstone hoping that I would review it. (Yeah, duh! Course I would...) show less
Lil is a older woman who works at a bookstore, lives simply and frugally (out of extreme necessity), and has a great love for one of the books in the bookstore: a valuable copy of Cinderella. Is this the sum of Lil or is she also who she claims to be, the exiled fairy godmother from the Cinderella story? As Lil goes about her day, with her tell-tale wings bound tightly to her back, she describes her life as a fairy godmother and the mistake that led her to be cast out from her life. She made show more the mistake of falling in love with the prince herself and went to the ball in place of Cinderella. Convincing herself that she will be re-admitted to the fairy realm if she rights her wrong, she determines to help unite her new friend Veronica and her kindly boss George, both unlucky in love and bearing melancholy scars.
Lil's rendition of the real Cinderella story starts off lightly but soon becomes more and more dark in feeling as she prepares to tell of her ultimate betrayal as a fairy godmother. Likewise, the story of her small existence in the human world starts to sound more menacing even as her plans for George and Veronica seem to be coming to fruition. The end to Lil's Cinderella story is unexpected, foreshadowing the end of the book. The ending completely changed my reading of the story. The impressive twist turns the lightness of the early story on its head and pulls the curtain off the life of quiet desperation that Lil has led for so long. This was a completely engrossing book, impossible to put down which I read in less than a day. But I am left ambivalent about it, although certainly still pondering it even weeks later so it clearly captured me in unusual ways. A real departure from my usual type of book, the glimpses of the magical world enchanted me but the loneliness of the human world counterbalanced the fantasy. So many questions remain in the end that I was left with a sense of unease, feeling decidely disturbed. Regardless of my own reaction, I don't think there's any doubt that this is a highly unusual and readable book, carefully crafted and taut with emotion. show less
Lil's rendition of the real Cinderella story starts off lightly but soon becomes more and more dark in feeling as she prepares to tell of her ultimate betrayal as a fairy godmother. Likewise, the story of her small existence in the human world starts to sound more menacing even as her plans for George and Veronica seem to be coming to fruition. The end to Lil's Cinderella story is unexpected, foreshadowing the end of the book. The ending completely changed my reading of the story. The impressive twist turns the lightness of the early story on its head and pulls the curtain off the life of quiet desperation that Lil has led for so long. This was a completely engrossing book, impossible to put down which I read in less than a day. But I am left ambivalent about it, although certainly still pondering it even weeks later so it clearly captured me in unusual ways. A real departure from my usual type of book, the glimpses of the magical world enchanted me but the loneliness of the human world counterbalanced the fantasy. So many questions remain in the end that I was left with a sense of unease, feeling decidely disturbed. Regardless of my own reaction, I don't think there's any doubt that this is a highly unusual and readable book, carefully crafted and taut with emotion. show less
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