The story circles mainly around Mr Hancock, a middle aged, widowed merchant, and a woman named Angelica, who is a well known high class prostitute. These two characters are drawn together after the Captain of Mr Hancock's ship arrives home with a most unexpected and peculiar cargo.

This book reminded me of The Crimson Petal and the White in a some respects, particularly the London setting and the lives and society of the prostitutes.

For a fair bit of this book there is little of mermaids, and even less of a Mrs Hancock, but what this is is a richly detailed story of life in London in the latter 1700s with a wonderful cast of characters and maybe a smidgen of something otherworldly.

Imogen Hermes Gowar creates a believable world set in 1785 England where Jonah Hancock, aged 45, is shocked to find his trade ship Calliope has been sold in order that a memaid can be purchased. He has no choice but to promote it and this finds himself in the company of Mrs Chappell and the girls she runs as prostitutes, alongside her previous ‘employee’ Angelica Neal. The main characters lives start to converge but as they do so the minor characters seem to be left unfinished and drift out of the story. However, the language and sense of place means this novel has a lot going for it. Thanks to Netgalley and Harvill Sacker/Penguin Random House for a review copy.

Set in eighteenth century Britain, ‘The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar tells the story of Jonah Hancock, a middle-aged widower and respectable Deptford merchant who discovers that the captain of one of his ships has sold his vessel in exchange for a stuffed “mermaid”. Although initially horrified by this transaction, Mr Hancock is later persuaded to profit from the rare curiosity he has acquired and loans the mermaid to Mrs Chappell for display at her infamous high society parties and Soho brothel. Celebrated courtesan Angelica Neal is tasked with entertaining Mr Hancock which she sees as an irritating distraction at first. However, as the display becomes the talk of London, Angelica decides she wants a mermaid of her own and Mr Hancock does whatever it takes to find another one.

It is easy to see why ‘The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock’ reportedly secured Imogen Hermes Gowar a six-figure advance for her debut novel, said to have been inspired by exhibits at the British Museum where she worked as a gallery assistant. Comparisons have been made to ‘The Essex Serpent’ by Sarah Perry due to the feminist and magical realist aspects, and ‘Golden Hill’ by Francis Spufford in its historical accuracy and attention to period detail, while I also found it reminiscent of ‘The Crimson Petal and the White’ by Michel Faber for its warts-and-all (or rather genital warts-and-all) view of London’s brothels. As to be expected from a novel described by the publisher as “sumptuous”, the pace is languid and the prose is heavily descriptive. However, Gowar’s pastiche of the era is much easier to digest than Spufford’s more decorative prose whilst remaining an immersive experience for the reader.

Those who are more interested in the fantasy elements suggested in the blurb might be disappointed that the titular mermaid’s role remains in the background of events for the most part, but I think the overall balance between myths and realism was pitched just right (for my taste, at least). Instead, Gowar manages to weave in multiple subplots in an unusual structure which deftly handles several weighty themes concerning social and moral issues with a light touch thanks to some sharp dialogue. The dominant presence of female characters who take unexpected yet still credible paths in their development is also very engaging.

Having only been featured in brief glimpses, the magical realism towards the end seemed a little jarring, but this is a minor quibble. Overall, ‘The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock’ is a thoroughly entertaining historical novel and a widely lauded debut that is very much worth seeking out. I look forward to seeing what Imogen Hermes Gowar writes next.

Excellent story , cross between folk tale and saucy read. Good weekend reading .

What a delightful debut novel, set in 18th century Georgian London, amongst the chaotic and often grimy world of the London brothels. Add to that a mythical creature, the mermaid and the intrigue, and sometimes horror, that it evoked in those that saw it. The story centres around Angelica, who recently lost her sponsor and was now 'back on the market'. The highs and lows of brothel life, with great historical detail The morality of it, the discrimination, race and class. It made me understand just how hard life was for those ladies, really not a lot of fun at all.

The relationship between Mr Hancock and Angelica would seem to be against all odds, two very different people, but once they are driven by a single cause, they become as one. It did feel a bit melancholic towards the end, all the dark simmering moods, the sadness that pervaded. But I liked the ending, it was the right one and for once it was a delight not to have a 'who dunnit it' with a huge twist at the end. Great book, thoroughly recommend it.

This book is set in 1785 when a merchant Mr Hancock is handed into his possession a shrivelled body of a mermaid in lieu of a ship he was expecting to return. This starts an event of trying to recoup his losses by displaying the oddity to those of interest at a sum.

Angelica Neal is a women used to being kept but has fallen on hard times, her previous lover has passed away and she finds herself fighting for survival and recognition to keep herself out of the high paid establishments and prostitution that will be her plight. Instead Angelica seeks a new lover and a higher status than that previously achieved.

Despite the high acclaim from my fellow Book Tuber's unfortunately this book did not quite meet my expectation. I found this book to read in a very slow and dry manner which left me unable to connect either with the content of the story or unfortunately the characters. This lead me to unfortunately put this book down 22% of the way through.

As a lover of historical fiction I am uncertain what it was that deterred me from being drawn into this promising tale and will definitely consider other books by this author despite our rocky start.

I'm not going to lie, the first thing I noticed about this book was the fact 'mermaid' is in the title. Although not my favourite mythical creature, I do have a soft spot for mermaids and their plight. But then what intrigued me more was the hint of the different sides of 18th century London Imogen Hermes Gowar was planning to explore. So I dived into this novel fearlessly and was enormously rewarded by it. Thanks to Vintage, Harvill Secker and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It wasn't until the very end of The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock that I think I finally understood the message of the novel. Most books end up discussing that greatest topic of all, the human condition, the why and wherefore of human existence. Thankfully there is no answer or solution to that topic, hence why we keep getting new and brilliant novels. In the end, The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock is a novel about, as the blurb says, 'curiosity and obsession'. What happens when you spend your whole life chasing something, a dream, a cargo, a house, a position in society, and then you don't get it? And what if you do? Are there possibilities you're not seeing, consequences you're not imagining, adventures you're not undertaking, just because you're obsessed with a certain plan or idea? It wasn't until the end of The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock that I saw that all the novel's different story lines come together to pose this question. And the way in which Gowar does so makes the journey across her novel's pages all the more worth it. Diving into her characters, into 18th century London was an experience!

What I love about the title of this novel is that it doesn't give much away, but once you've read the novel you realise it's a perfect representation of the novel. On the one hand there is the fantastical and the magical, both of the mermaid and of the surface lives of some of the characters. It all seems charmed and beautiful, until you look below the surface. And then, on the other hand, there is the hard, historical fact of the lives of the novel's characters. The fact is that, despite the constant development and "improvement", living in the 18th century in London was no fun for most. Gowar addresses the conflicting roles of women in London's society, how delicate their position is, how easily they are taken advantage of, how far they can fall. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock moves between the narration of different characters, each of whom show their own stories through the third person. Whether it's the courtesans, the businessmen or the servants, each get a chance to tell their story and share their view. For some the pace of the novel may be too slow, or the plot may be too broad, but if you take your time with this novel, if you let it work its magic, it will be an incredibly worthwhile reading experience.

One of the major pluses of this novel is Imogen Hermes Gowar's writing. From the moment you start The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock you feel utterly immersed in 18th century London. The amount of detail that Gowar works into her writing without making it obvious is astounding. There is truly a sense that you can smell the cakes and the streets, feel the heat of fires and cold of winds, hear the rustle of gowns and carriages rolling past. Historical Fiction has the difficult task of mixing history with fiction, but Gowar manages to give you both without betraying either. Her research shows itself in how effortless she imparts knowledge to you. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock is enormous, nearly 500 pages long, and in part this is because Gowar takes her time. The plot meanders at times, there are subplots that aren't necessarily relevant to the main story of the mermaid or Mrs. Hancock, but each does bring something to the reading experience. I would have liked some more closure on one or two of them, to see the story either clearly brought to an end or finished enough to allow the reader to imagine an end for themselves.

I adored The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock. It is a sumptuous novel that takes you on a stroll through 18th century London while showing you a set of characters trying to do their best. Gowar's writing is gorgeous and her characters are rough and real. I can't wait to read her next book! I'd recommend this to fans of Historical Fiction and those willing to work for their Magical Realism.

This book was sensational. From the moment I started reading I didn’t want to put it down. The story flowed beautifully and the characters had such depth that you found yourself celebrating every joy and saddened by any hardship. I enjoyed the book so much I was sad when I realised I had read the last page.

I know we’re not yet done with January, but 2018 will have to pull something out the hat to push Mrs Hancock and The Mermaid off my favourite book of the year spot. This debut novel by Imogen Hermes Gower really does live up to all the hype you may have heard.
Mr Jonah Hancock is a merchant whose life is irrevocably changed when instead of a usual cargo, his agent sells Hancock’s ship and comes home with a stuffed mermaid. Such a fierce and wondrous creature has never before been seen in London of the late 18th century and Hancock is soon thrust into the type of society he is entirely unprepared for. His mermaid is hired by Mrs Chappell, abbess of one of the best nunneries in the city, a madame with a stable of young, cultured girls who service only the best of society’s gentlemen. Attending a bawdy party at her establishment where his mermaid is on show, Hancock meets Anjelica Neale, a courtesan who is forced back into a relationship with Mrs Chappell after her protector died. This meeting is to have a profound effect on both of them and soon events are set in motion that will profoundly change the lives of all in attendance.
Mr Gower has obviously done loads of research. Authenticity drips off the page and I felt I was present in every drawing room and boudoir, and walking the dirty streets with her characters. And what characters the author has created! Mr Hancock is a solid, dependable man who happiness seems to have passed by. He wasn’t entirely sympathetic at first, but the skill of the author revealed the man in glimpses and flashes that soon made me want only the best for him. Anjelica took longer to like. She starts off as a spoiled and petulant child but as her back story is expertly revealed I came to care for her too.
The language of the book is delicious. I found great pleasure in the words themselves, independent of the story. It’s a shame we no longer use such language today but perhaps if we did we’d lose the utter joy of it.
I loved the story from beginning to end and I put down the book smiling because I had enjoyed it so much, yet sad that it was over.
I recommend that you waste no time in reading this remarkable book for yourself.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock opens in 1785 with merchant Jonah Hancock sitting in his London counting house waiting for his ship to return. Imagine his horror when his captain arrives at the door and confesses that he has sold the ship in exchange for a mermaid. The captain assures him that people will come from all over the world to see the mermaid and that it will make him a fortune, but Mr Hancock is not at all convinced…

Angelica Neal has been living in comfort as the mistress of a rich duke. When the duke dies, leaving her with nothing, Angelica needs to find another way to support herself. The obvious solution is to return to her former employment in Mrs Chappell’s brothel, but Angelica is more ambitious these days and decides to make her own way in the world instead. Her path crosses with Mr Hancock’s when his mermaid is exhibited at a party she is attending and an unlikely friendship begins to form between these two very different people.

The first thing to say about The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock is that although mermaids and the legends surrounding them are symbolically important to the story, the part they play in the novel is relatively small. This could be a good or a bad thing depending on how you feel about magical realism, but be aware that the mermaid element of the story might not be what you are expecting. Their role is similar, in some ways, to the role of the serpent in Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent, one of several books to which this one has been compared.

As for the humans, I thought Angelica and Mr Hancock were both interesting, well drawn characters. Whenever the ambitious, strong-willed Angelica appeared on the page I was reminded of Becky Sharp from Vanity Fair and Sugar from The Crimson Petal and the White. It took me a while to warm to her and I still can’t say whether I actually liked her, but I did have some sympathy for her and, by the end, some admiration as well. Jonah Hancock is a very different type of character – a quiet, humble, middle-aged widower who is haunted by memories of his wife and son. Since their deaths, he has allowed his sister Hester and niece Sukie to take charge of his life, but his relationship with Angelica introduces another dynamic into the household.

There’s a colourful cast of secondary characters too, particularly the girls from the ‘nunnery’ as they ironically call it, and their grotesque ‘abbess’, Mrs Chappell, but I found that I was less interested in finding out what would happen to these characters than I was in reading about Mr Hancock and Angelica. One of them, Polly – a prostitute from a mixed race background who finds herself, like the mermaid, viewed as a sort of curiosity by the men who visit the brothel – had a lot of potential but her storyline was not really developed until late in the book.

The novel’s setting (Georgian England) is one I usually like and I was quite impressed by the author’s attention to detail and her attempts to recreate an 18th century world. The language and dialogue generally feels suited to the period, although I think Francis Spufford’s wonderful Golden Hill does this more effectively. Actually, it’s difficult to read this book without drawing comparisons with Golden Hill and if you enjoy one of them I think there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy the other!

Although I didn’t love The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock as unreservedly as I’d hoped, I predict it will be a big success for Imogen Hermes Gowar.

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

It is 1785 and merchant Jonah Hancock has to cope with the news that one of his captains has just sold his ship in exchange for what appears to be a little mermaid. It’s dead, hardly attractive, but when news of it flies around London society, Mr Hancock realises that here is the chance to recoup his losses. And when Mrs Chappell, the ‘abbess’ of a fashionable ‘nunnery’, gives him a great deal of money to display his mermaid at her infamous parties for a week, Mr Hancock not only has his eyes opened, he also gets a little more than he bargained for.

Angelica Neal is quite possibly London’s most beautiful courtesan and she is newly unleashed on London once more (now that her Duke has died, conveniently in time for the season). Mrs Neal must look to her future and that means she must marry. That’s easier said and done for one in her position. Mrs Chappell is keen for Angelica to return to her nunnery but Angelica has grander plans. She also wants a mermaid of her own, and not some dead ugly little thing on the mantelpiece. And Mr Hancock will do everything in his power to give Angelica her wish.

This remarkable debut brings Georgian London alive, or at least those parts of it that make their living, or take their pleasure, in its fashionable ‘nunneries’ or brothels. Its is gorgeously written, filled with all those little luxurious details about such things as clothing, furnishings, objects – from stockings and stays to chairs, wallpaper, gardens and grottoes. Everything is so vibrant and rich. And the wit with which the inhabitants of these spectacular dresses and parlours speak is delightful.

What is especially appealing is the distance between the assumed elegance and refinement of Mrs Chappell’s brothel and the reality of what actually goes on within its perfumed rooms. The girls are all taught manners, languages, needlework and music, as if they are all in training to be perfect ladies of society. And yet these are girls who are owned, who rarely meet other women apart from themselves. They exist in a beautiful bubble for the enjoyment of men. At times this is brought home, particularly in the character of Polly, who, as a black young woman, is an exotic object of curiosity and lust, little more than that. Little different are the black footmen with their powdered hair. There is a dark side to this world, fed upon by hypocritical, lecherous men, controlled by pandering painted grotesque women and permitted by corrupt officials. There is suffering.

Angelica Neal is such a fascinating character. At times she may seem shallow and grasping, but how could she be anything else? Her story demonstrates just how vulnerable women like this can be, while a friend demonstrates how far a few, but just a few, can rise. There is a goal but not many at all can achieve it. I felt such empathy for Angelica, such warmth. Her character evolves through the novel and it’s shown so beautifully by Imogen Hermes Gowar.

Polly is somebody I would have liked to have seen much more of. She is brilliantly drawn and her story has such potential. I could easily read a novel just about Polly, if written as well as this. As for Mr Hancock, he is rather overshadowed by the novel’s astonishing women, but there is something so poignant about his belief that somewhere, in a parallel universe maybe, still lives his son who was born dead. He imagines the boy growing to manhood near him, like a shadow, by his side. Mrs Chappell is a glorious scene stealer. I loved the descriptions of her. She is truly revolting, with her cauliflower flesh, feeding on her girls.

This is historical fiction but, as you might expect in a novel with mermaids, there is a fantasy element but it is delicately done. The final third of the book takes us further into strangeness than the rest and I must admit that I preferred the preceding two thirds, but there is a real beauty about what happens. We can be in no doubt, though, that the true mermaids are the human sirens who move through this novel, bewitching men and being betrayed by men. Angelica Neal is the subject of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock and she is enchanting, as is this whole marvellous, witty and elegant novel. Do not miss it. The hardback is itself a thing of great beauty.

Different, brilliant & highly original. Great mix of characters and a wonderful storyline. One of the most enjoyable books I have read

An interesting historical novel set in Georgian London with an interesting use of period language. There are a lot of lengthy descriptive passages. The story is set around the shipyards if Deptford and the brothels of Soho
This is the story of Jonah Hancock a widower, merchant and shipowner who one day would wish wealth and marital happiness. One day one of his captains returns having sold his ship and goods in return for a mummified grotesque “mermaid”. Hancock decides that this will be his road to fame and fortune. In trying to make his fortune he is beset by various characters. His estranged sister who wants her share; Bel Chappell the abbess of an upmarket brothel who wishes to use the mermaid to entice customers to her establishment and the courtesan Angela Neal whom he will later save from penury or a return to Bel’s brothel by marrying her.
Later in the novel appears a more ethereal mermaid captured off the coast of Scotland . This is kept in a vat in the follly at Hancock’s new upmarket country home. She is never seen but is a fascinating for Hancock who nightly visits the creature to the detriment of his marriage until Angelica discovers his obsession.
This is a novel of passion, obsession, curiosity and love .

Blog review to follow. (rating is more a 4.5 stars)

Late one night in 1785, the merchant Jonah Hancock is startled when one of his sea captains arrives unexpectedly at his door. The captain has made what seems to be a terrible bargain: he’s sold one of Jonah’s ships in exchange for a dessicated curiosity, the preserved corpse of what he claims is a mermaid. Jonah, used only to the world of trade, is bewildered by the idea of exhibiting the creature, but determined to get at least some of his money back. As the mermaid catches the imagination of London’s fashionable society, Jonah is drawn into the orbit of the celebrated prostitute Angelica Neal, who is irritated by being ordered to charm this uninspiring man. But as the pull of the mermaid grows ever greater, we begin to wonder whether what Jonah has acquired really is just a freak and a fake, or whether there is something more sinister going on.

Imogen Hermes Gowar’s debut, The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock, has already been compared to Francis Spufford’s Golden Hill and Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist, among others. It certainly depicts eighteenth-century society with as much vigour and fun as Spufford, and while the style is a light pastiche, it’s easier for the modern reader to get their head around than Spufford’s deliberately ornate prose. And like Burton’s debut, it tries to strike a compromise between historical realism and magical goings-on. Funnily enough, like The Miniaturist, I don’t think it quite succeeds – but the novel as a whole is so incredibly immersive that I could forgive it, even if I wanted to hear more about the mermaids who seem to be living their mysterious lives far beneath the waves. As the plot unfolds, Gowar keeps confounding our expectations; nothing about this novel is at all predictable, except perhaps for the spoiler given away by the title (which could, in my opinion, have been avoided by simply calling the book The Mermaid and Mr Hancock, even though the aptness of the current title becomes clear by the end of the novel).

The development of the central relationship between the flawed characters of Jonah and Angelica is assured and gripping, but I was even more taken by Gowar’s handling of the secondary female cast. The gaggle of courtesans that Angelica has trained among could easily be reduced into silly ciphers, but Gowar is careful to give them each lives and personalities of their own, especially Polly, a mixed-race woman who is becoming increasingly aware of how she is treated as an exotic curiosity by the society around her. Sukie, Jonah’s niece, who lives with him and keeps house, is equally engaging as she asserts her own intelligence and agency. In a different vein, but equally well-drawn, is Mrs Chappell, the ‘bawd’ who makes her living through the girls that she nurtures into prostitution, whose story has a horribly memorable ending that reminded me, oddly, of an equally shocking but very different scene in Golden Hill, perhaps because of the casualness of both books’ tone.

Those who come looking for mermaids might be slightly disappointed – but it looks like there are plenty of mermaids to come in fiction in 2018, from Kirsty Logan’s The Gloaming, which promises ‘a queer mermaid love story’, to Louise O’Neill’s The Surface Breaks, a retelling of the Little Mermaid. In the meantime, The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock is a wonderful historical novel, and I can’t wait to see what Gowar writes next.

I straight up loved this. Jonah Hancock is a staid merchant in Georgian London, whose most reliable captain has just sold his entire ship for what he says is a mermaid. Aghast, but needing to recoup his losses, Hancock exhibits the mermaid in a public house, to great acclaim. Its success leads him to the courtesan Angelica Neal, with whom he begins to fall in love… To say more would be to give the whole game away, but here’s a recommendation: anyone who loved Golden Hill or The Essex Serpent will adore this. It’s got spectacularly fluid writing with just the right level of period detail, perfect comic touches, and an atmosphere of total sumptuousness.

It’s the autumn of 1785, England, and we are introduced to quite a few characters. One of them is Mr Hancock, a widower, a lonely merchant. The other is a very wilful courtesan, on the bring of serious trouble. There are more characters, aside from these, but what brings them all together is… well, you could say, a mermaid. The characters’ lives intertwine without much logical reason, much as life normally does, and things go on from there. What will become of the mermaid? Or the merchant? What becomes of the courtesan, on her way to ruin?

Keeping in mind the name of the book, this is the rough experience of me reading it:

10% — hm, super curious. No mermaid, no Mrs Hancock. What is to come of this?

20% — yes. The mermaid. Still no Mrs Hancock though. But there are other interesting things going on, so no matter!

50% — o….kay. Back to square one. But I’m attached to the characters by now! There’s still half the book… WHY is it called that though??

75% — it seems everything is settled! At least we’ve got Mrs Hancock now. Never you mind that mermaid. But what could still happen?

85% — err, okay. Well at least the name works out. Kind of wish it didn’t though… #feels

91% — oh… again, did not expect this. Although it’s a nope from me. Y U do dis, characters?? You could just be happy instead, maybe??

100% — right. Alright. I can settle on that.

This book is interesting in the way that you don’t really know whether you should interpret some parts of the story as real, and thus it’s magical realism, or if it’s just intended as a symbol for emotional experiences. Which actually makes it very captivating! It’s both very real and very unreal at the same time, colorfully written and contrasting. I kept wanting to come back to the book even despite the lack of a quick pace or big developments.

As for the plot in The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock – there is one, but it’s definitely not in the foreground, and it doesn’t lead anywhere in particular. In part, it’s situational, in part, it also displays actions and effects of certain situations, or just follows lives. The beautiful writing works well in this situation, as does the historical setting and interesting facts about the time period. The book also has really amazing secondary characters, and you will be just as invested in the developments of their lives as in those of the main characters.

However, if you are looking for fantasy, action or magic, you will not find it in The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock. It is a very slow going book, so if you do not enjoy that kind of reading, this is not for you.

The theme of this book seems to be that sorrow and grief will not disappear if you do not let it go yourself, if you do not release the pain. And even if you think you are undeserving, you can still have happiness. I truly liked this story, and if you love slow-going historical books, then I’m sure you will enjoy this one too.

I thank Random House UK / Vintage Publishing / Harvill Secker for giving me a copy of the book in exchange to my honest opinion.

Likened to the much lauded Essex Serpent and already touted as one of the best fiction books of 2018, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this title.
The author is impressively adept at weaving an interesting and original storyline with such evocative description. I am amazed at such an accomplished debut. I shall certainly keep an eye out for future publications by Ms Gowar.
It is by turns fun, grotesque, romantic, maudlin, sumptuous and occasionally quite risqué. I can easily imagine it on the big screen.
I wasn’t disappointed and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it which, from me, is praise indeed.

This was a beautifully written novel that wove its way carefully through late 18th century London, from Deptford to Marylebone, from high society to the darker underbellies. The characterisation was exquisite, the prose breathtaking, the narrative slow, but impressive. Fans of Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpent will adore this book!