'His stomach trembled with desire and fear and wonder because he knew what he'd seen. A woman. Right there, in the water'On a quiet day, near the Caribbean island of Black Conch, a mermaid raises her barnacled head from the flat grey sea.

She is attracted by David, a fisherman waiting for a catch, singing to himself with his guitar. Aycayia the mermaid has been living in the vast ocean all alone for centuries. When Aycayia is caught and dragged ashore by American tourists, David rescues her with the aim of putting her back in the ocean.

But it is soon clear that the mermaid is already transforming into a woman. This is the story of their love affair, of an island and of the great wide sea. 'Mesmerising' Maggie O'Farrell'A unique talent' Bernadine Evaristo'Not your standard mermaid' Margaret AtwoodVINTAGE EARTH is a series of books that reveals our ever-changing relationship with the environment.

These are stories old and young, set in worlds real or imagined, that allow us to explore our connection to the natural world. Transformative, wild, surprising and essential, these novels take on the most urgent story of our times.