FANNY BLAKE

THE MERMAID AND MRS HANCOCK by Imogen Hermes Gowar (Harvill Secker, €18.20)

IN GEORGIAN London, widowed merchant Jonah Hancock endures an anxious wait for the arrival of one of his ships. Instead, the captain arrives at his door — having sold the ship to raise money to buy the dried-up body of a mermaid.

Hancock’s outrage turns to surprise when he puts it on show to the fascinated public, attracting both fame and fortune and putting him in the way of Mrs Chappell, a well-known ‘bawd’ who wants to exhibit the mermaid at one of her parties.

Thanks to her, his path collides with Angelica Neal, a high-class courtesan who has been omitted from the will of her most recent protector. Their developing relationship and the obstacles strewn in its path are the stuff of this exuberant Georgian romp.

Full of enjoyable period detail, characters that are larger than life and a shot of magical realism — I loved it.

DEAR MRS BIRD by AJ Pearce (Picador, €13.20)

AS WORLD War II breaks out, Miss Emmeline Lake dreams of becoming a war correspondent.

She mistakenly takes a job at a woman’s magazine, where she’s assigned the job of typing replies for the resident agony aunt, Mrs Bird, who turns out to be a woman of standards.

There is a strict list of ‘Topics That Will Not Be Published Or Responded To’, including the vexed topic of sex, marital and otherwise.

However, Emmy is moved by the problems Mrs Bird refuses to address and decides to answer them secretly, thus risking her job.

Sharply observed, witty and with a memorable narrative voice, this upbeat and winning novel proves an absolute delight.