Most people can’t say that a mermaid changed their lives, but writer Monique Roffey certainly can.

Released near the beginning of the pandemic, Roffey’s sixth novel, The Mermaid of Black Conch, came out of the blue to claim the Costa Book of the Year award for 2020.

Then, there was no catching the mermaid.

Suzannah Lipscomb, the historian and broadcaster who chaired the judges for the Costa prize, said Roffey’s novel was, “utterly original – unlike anything we’ve ever read – and feels like a classic in the making from a writer at the height of her powers.”

Roffey, 55, had been writing for 20 years before her mermaid captured international attention. She had first imagined the mermaid while staying in Charlotteville, Tobago in 2014. After seeing a marlin caught in a fishing competition and hanging above a jetty, Roffey dreamed of a mermaid being pulled from the sea.

That dream made this novel different from all of the rest.

“It is different to dream a story,” said Roffey. “If your novel is deeply rooted in the unconscious, it gets lodged there.”

Later, Roffey learned of the Taino legend of the alluring mermaid Aycayia with a sweet voice. The dream and the myth converged in the author’s imagination.

[caption id="attachment_939451" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The Mermaid of Black Conch was named the Costa Book of the Year in 2020. - SUREASH CHOLAI[/caption]

In 2016, Roffey began to write the mermaid’s story. Set in1976, in the tiny village of St Constance on the fictional island of Black Conch, the love story between a fisherman and a mermaid symbolises the region’s colonial history, touches on environmental issues, exposes prejudice, jealousy and misogyny yet the novel never got bogs down by its multi-layered, deep meaning.

When mainstream publishers turned down the mermaid, Roffey found her a home with the small independent Peepal Tree Press, which focuses on literature from the Caribbean.

That mermaid, conceived in a dream, would not be abandoned.

In 2019, Roffey turned to crowdfunding to raise money for the book’s publicity campaign. The mermaid took an unexpected turn. When it captured the Costa prize, it began to break through barriers. The mermaid's love story resonated with international readers.

“I think when you work with legend, you’re pricking that nerve of the collective unconscious,” said Roffey.

Still, Roffey wanted to transcend the realm of legends.

“Old stories are flawed – especially if they’re starring women. They’ll always be about female surrender or teaching the woman a lesson, or something to do with controlling women.”

Roffey had the power to change that narrative.

Her mermaid was "cursed and exiled and denied her erotic rite of passage in the old story. I got to change that and give her a love story. She beats the curse. I’m trying to say, ‘OK. Let’s bring her out of the sea again. Let’s give her what she’s been denied.’”

[caption id="attachment_939449" align="alignnone" width="779"] Monique Roffey first imagined the mermaid for her story The Mermaid o