Deep beneath the cold waters of the sea lies the kingdom of the Sea King. Gaia is the youngest and fairest of his daughters and blessed with the most beautiful voice, but Gaia wants more than to just be an accessory to another merman like her father. On her first visit to the surface, she saves and falls in love with a human boy. Seeing him as her chance for escape, she becomes determined to become a part of his world, but will she just be exchanging one gilded cage for another?
The Surface Breaks is written by bestselling Irish author Louise O’Neill’s and this is her first novel for a YA audience. Described as a “feminist retelling” of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, and in this it certainly succeeds with deep undercurrents of darkness and rage. O’Neill’s Sea King isn’t controlling because he’s overprotective of his daughters, but instead because he regards them as his property and pretty objects that he is free to use to his advantage and benefit. He pits them against each, making them compete for his affection, letting them know that they are inferior. Through the Sea Witch, we learn that this stems from fear, insecurity and a misplaced sense of inferiority/superiority. Sound familiar?
Speaking of the Sea Witch, she is an interesting character both in physical and narrative design. Not the cipher from the original Hans Christian Anderson tale nor the outright villain from Disney, O’Neill’s Sea Witch—whilst possessing enough moral ambiguity to keep her from being a fully heroic figure. She is portrayed as a champion of those who’ve been abused, guardian of the ‘Rusalkas’—underwater creatures that are created from women who drowned and who are hated with a near fanatical zeal by some merfolk—and presented as the embodiment of natural, rather than idealised, female beauty. She mentions to Gaia that all mermaids have, or used to have, innate powers but that the Sea King felt threatened by that and did his best to make sure this was forgotten. And therein lies the crux of the novel: O’Neill uses the framework of The Little Mermaid to show how women have their voices, both literally and figuratively, taken away from them, and how they can reclaim them.
It could be argued that the lack of any positive male characters is unrealistic, possibly even reductive, and this is understandable. The Sea King is almost cartoon-ish in his depiction (though undeniably effective), the embodiment of the selfish, chauvinistic man with no redeeming qualities, and Zale (Gaia’s fiancé) isn’t much better. Oliver, the human boy she falls in love with, although kinder, is indecisive and self-absorbed, unable to form much more than a shallow emotional connection with her. The only positive male figures are marginal and ineffective.
But this isn’t a story about balance, it’s a protest against the ways woman have and, in some cases, continue to be treated and how culture enables this—which Oliver, the Sea King and Zale are all representations of more than actual characters—and a rallying cry for their voices to be heard and listened to. It’s also a demonstration of how painful it can be to be a woman. In the original fairy tale, Ariel as a human experiences ‘pain like knives’ with each step; O’Neill takes this much further, to the point where Gaia’s feet are literally falling apart, making for some genuinely uncomfortable reading.
The other element worth commenting on is the world building and setting. Gaia’s underwater home is beautifully depicted, so much so that the surface, by comparison, feels a little underdeveloped, with a strange timelessness. We are first introduced to Oliver and his compatriots on board what appears to be a modern yacht, but when Gaia is taken into his home, there are elements that appear to more old-fashioned, until something modern is shown or mentioned again and that makes it difficult to pin down exactly when the story is meant to be set.
But, despite its minor flaws, The Surface Breaks is a brilliant retelling of The Little Mermaid, beautifully written, razor-sharp in its relevancy. If you’re looking for a fairy-tale with a strong streak of darkness and a distinct feminist slant, this certainly will fit the bill.
The Surface Breaks is available on Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
Have you read The Surface Breaks? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Deep beneath the sea, off the cold Irish coast, Gaia is a young mermaid who dreams of freedom from her controlling father. On her first swim to the surface, she is drawn towards a human boy. She longs to join his carefree world, but how much will she have to sacrifice? What will it take for the little mermaid to find her voice? Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairy tale is reimagined through a searing feminist lens, with the stunning, scalpel-sharp writing and world building that has won Louise her legions of devoted fans. A book with the darkest of undercurrents, full of rage and rallying cries: storytelling at its most spellbinding.
