**THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS**
My childhood reading was filled with all the versions of The Little Mermaid I could find. Recently a couple of newly published mermaid tales caught my eye — Chlorine by Jade Song and The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw. These are not children’s stories, but rather dark explorations of both female power and subjugation. The main characters are fierce and stubborn. The tales delve into the myth of woman and the many roles the female plays in story — mother, innocent, siren, temptress, and destroyer of men.
Synopsis
Chlorine features a high school girl, Ren Yu, whose parents, especially mother, pushes her to succeed. As immigrants, they want a ‘better’ life for Ren. The book details her struggle to balance her different cultural worlds, accept her sexual identity, and realize her own desires. Her escape from pressure from school, friends, family, and her swim coach comes in her belief that she is truly a mermaid: a chlorine mermaid. She acts out her siren power through sexual conquests and even her domination of her best friend (who is a love interest). As Ren works to please everyone, she retreats more and more into her mermaid fantasy, ultimately sewing her legs together so that she can finally transform into the mermaid she was meant to be. She can finally be free.
