'The sea is alive. Oh, yes it is.' Mermaids are just in folk tales. They don't really exist. Do they? The people of Anterwendt think they do - there's one in the museum - and when Adam and Jana arrive on their way to the New World, they get caught up in local tensions, Imperial intrigue and some ancient and powerful folklore. And then the circus comes to town, but its array of self-proclaimed freaks aren't the strangest new arrivals, inflaming old prejudices and exposing dark secrets in a fishing community where shipwrecks are a part of daily life and the beach is haunted by ... well, no-one's very sure really. They may be just in folk tales, but mermaid legends are nearly always tragic love stories. That's practically what they're for.