Brooklyn BookBeat: Local author draws on experience as Brooklyn mother
Brooklyn-based writer Amy Shearn will soon be releasing her latest novel – a charming story titled “The Mermaid of Brooklyn” (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, April 2). Jenny Lipkin, Shearn’s protagonist, is striving to pick up the pieces after her husband mysteriously leaves—and she finds strength from the unlikeliest of allies: a mermaid.
Still adjusting to life as a stay-at-home mother, Jenny, a former magazine editor, tackles the challenges of raising two children in a cramped Park Slope walk-up. She spends endless hours in Prospect Park, bonding with other moms about breastfeeding and sleeplessness. Jenny is already stretched-too-thin, but when her husband Harry, a compulsive gambler, vanishes one evening without a word, she finally reaches her breaking point. And in a moment of despair, a split second decision changes her life forever.
Pulled from the brink by an unexpected (and, as it turns out, sometimes annoying) supernatural ally, Jenny is forced to rethink her ideas about success, motherhood, romance, and relationships. But confronting her inner demons—of both the mermaid and non-mermaid variety—is no easy task. This beautifully written novel blends the whimsy of “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and the biting humor of “The Nanny Diaries” with an indelible portrait of motherhood, exploring the stories and struggles women only share with one another.