Daughter of the Merciful Deep by Leslye Penelope

Book Description

Jane Edwards hasn’t spoken since she was eleven years old, when armed riders expelled her family from their hometown along with every other Black resident. Now, twelve years later, she’s found a haven in the all-Black town of Awenasa. But the construction of a dam promises to wash her home under the waters of the new lake.

To save the community that sheltered her, Jane will journey into a sunken world, a land of capricious gods and unsung myths, of salvation and dreams made real. But the flood waters are rising. To gain the miracle she desires, Jane will have to find her voice again and finally face the trauma of the past. 

Review

Daughter of the Merciful Deep, the newest novel by Leslye Penelope, is a harrowing story that hooked into my imagination hard. Set in the 1930s in the American South, the story plunges you into a world where nothing is safe. Nowhere is fair. And where deep water is both a source of mercy and danger.

In Daughter of the Merciful Deep, Penelope builds her protagonist, Jane Edwards, as an unwilling and unlikely heroine.

Was this a strange choice? I mean, even a plucky, brave heroine would struggle with saving a black-owned town from the flood path of a coming reservoir.

But Jane is not plucky. She is not brave. So, Jane’s journey into a magical sunken world to save her community is monumental. She navigates treacherous paths—both literal and metaphorical—as she discovers secrets about her heritage and the true nature of the power she possesses.

Something I found fascinating was how the magical sunken world came to be. Penelope’s crafting of her underwater world reminded me strongly of The Deep by Rivers Solomon. There are striking similarities in how both novels delve into themes of loss, identity, memory, and resilience.

As a scuba diver, I love imagining magical undersea worlds. And to paint the underwater landscape as a place where we can start over and build or rebuild a new, more-perfect community?

Catnip.

But a word of caution. Daughter of the Merciful Deep is not a fun book. It is not a light, breezy story. And it is definitely not a cozy, historical fantasy. While the story is fictional, Penelope rooted her novel’s premise in truth. At times, I found the novel hard to read.

Frankly, even in fiction, it’s hard to face what real people have endured.

However, if you enjoyed Penelope’s The Monsters We Defy, definitely read Daughter of the Merciful Deep.

Likewise, if you’re into dark fantasy and love profound, thought-provoking reads, this novel might be for you too. It’s a story that will stick with you.

Content Warning

Death Penalty, Drowning, Hate Crimes, Murder, Police Brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Slavery, Violence

The header photo is a composite image. Base image by Fernando Jorge on Unsplash