"...I became anxious, filled with that strange turbulence that rises when you begin to wash up on the island of your own little self and you don't see how you could ever sustain yourself there."

**Spoiler alert and TL:DR** Beautiful writing; dumb protagonist is the root of her own problems.

This book created a hugely divisive conversation within me that I haven't yet fully reconciled. I loved the writing, the imagery, and the author's exploration and mixing and mingling of themes like religion, spirituality, mermaid and siren lore, and the weight of slave history. It's a tapestry of ideas that kept me enthralled from beginning to end.

On the other hand, that overarching story of our main character trying to "find herself" amid an unproblematic albeit boring marriage undermines the commitment and effort that a lifetime partnership demands. Marriage isn't easy; most of us know that, but we CHOOSE to stay and work together, rather than waking up one day and thinking, "Wow, this lovely man who has built this life with me and maintained comfortability for 20 years suddenly doesn't get me at all and completely weighs me down." Like, how about a conversation? "Hey, honey, I'm feeling bored in life; how would you feel about exploring something new with me? 

Instead, we get a "midlife-crisis-to-impulsive-romantic-infatuation-to-regret-and-apology-to-reconciliation-but-it’ll-never-be-the-same" trope. Ultimately, you end up sympathizing with the husband, who isn't even a main character, and eye rolling at the main character who becomes the antagonist of her own story.