Mermaids in the Basement
Book Club Picks

Book Club Picks: Mermaids in the Basement

Renata DeChavannes is definitely the last to know about her live-in boyfriend's new romance - as she has to read about it in The National Enquirer. The love of her life, Ferg, a Hollywood director has been caught getting cozy with the glam star on his latest movie set in Ireland.

This news sends Renata packing, all the way to her family roots on the Gulf Coast. After just barely surviving the tragic loss of her mother, she's not sure how much else she can handle. She guesses a good dose of Southern love from her grandmother, Honora, will be just the thing she needs.

Little did she know that Honora, along with her partners in crime Isabella and Gladys, plans to bring to light the sordid details of Renata's past. From one desperate, unrequited love story to the next, Renata will struggle through learning the truth about her mother and father once and for all. While in the process she just might put a few people in the hospital, namely her father's new fiance!

Book Club Picks: Mermaids in the Basement Opinion

Mermaids in the Basement is a love story at it's core. Sure there is an amazing cast of witty, quirky, lovable characters that accompany it, but when stripped bare, this novel is about love - both finding it and losing it.

Shelby and Louie's romance, as it unfolds at the same time for Renata and readers, is made from the same fabric as the classics - Romeo and Juliet, Catherine and Heathcliff, Bella and Edward. Theirs brings a bit of Southern crass and complexity, with extramarital affairs between all sorts, women accidentally killing their husbands while they sleep, and plenty of rich, butter-drenched food. Always plenty of food. But the theme is consistent with the greats - a fierce passion that never dies but also never seems to find the right time to flourish.

The product of this passion is Renata and boy does she suffer from her parents' mistakes, even without realizing it! The charm of this novel is that as Renata learns about her past, she learns about herself and her future all at once. The result is one that will leave you wiping a few tears away as you turn the last page and a fierce desire to meet these characters again.

Book Club Picks: Mermaids in the Basement Discussion Questions

1. If you were Renata and didn't learn much of this information until well into adulthood, would you be furious with your parents?
2. Was Ferg having an affair? Why or why not?
3. Discuss Honora and Shelby's relationship. How did they become even closer than mother and son?

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