When Simon’s sister, Enola, unexpectedly returns home, vibrating with an angry sadness Simon has never seen before, Simon dives deeper into the book and the dark waters of their family history, hoping to change what he fears is her destiny.

The water-damaged book may reveal the root of certain mysteries in his family, such as why the women can hold their breath far, far longer than normal, and the inexplicable reason they have all drowned while young women on the exact same date-a date that is only a few days away as the book begins. Featuring mermaids, swarms of horseshoe crabs, deadly floods, and the silent secrets of an ancient tarot deck, The Book of Speculation is split like a savory peach between the odd ventures of a traveling carnival in the late 1700s and the modern-day discovery by librarian Simon Watson of an old, handwritten volume containing his grandmother’s name. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title.Īn Amazon Best Book of June 2015: Water shrouds the fascinating, often doomed characters of The Book of Speculation. In the tradition of Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, and Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian, The Book of Speculation-with two-color illustrations by the author-is Erika Swyler's moving debut novel about the power of books, family, and magic. Could there be a curse on Simon's family? What does it have to do with the book, and can he get to the heart of the mystery in time to save Enola? Since then, generations of 'mermaids' in Simon's family have drowned-always on July 24, which is only weeks away.Īs his friend Alice looks on with alarm, Simon becomes increasingly worried about his sister. Fragile and water damaged, the book is a log from the owner of a traveling carnival in the 1700s, who reports strange and magical things, including the drowning death of a circus mermaid. One June day, an old book arrives on Simon's doorstep, sent by an antiquarian bookseller who purchased it on speculation. His younger sister, Enola, ran off six years ago and now reads tarot cards for a traveling carnival. His mother, a circus mermaid who made her living by holding her breath, drowned in the very water his house overlooks. Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone in a house that is slowly crumbling toward the Long Island Sound. A tale full of magic and family mystery, The Book of Speculation will keep you up all night reading.'―Isaac Fitzgerald, BuzzFeed 'As Simon, a lonely research librarian, searches frantically for the key to a curse that might be killing the women in his family, he learns strange and fascinating secrets about their past. **Includes a bonus short story by Erika Swyler, 'The Mermaid Girl'** One of BuzzFeed's 24 Best Fiction Books of 2015

The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler