When my coworker casually mentioned working as a mermaid at a tiki bar out west, I was flabbergasted and mesmerized. So when I heard about Lara Ehrlich’s Bind Me Tighter Still, I had to read it.
The story focuses on a young siren named Ceto who decides to see what living like a human is like. She gives up her tail, marries the first man she meets, and has a child, Naia. But it’s clear that this life is not what Ceto had hoped. She runs off with baby Naia and starts a mermaid burlesque in a bar on the coast, which grows with other entertainments like a Mermaid Coney Island known as Sirenland. Ceto leads her band of mermaids and attempts to protect them, and especially Naia, from the rest of the world. But when Naia turns 15, she naturally starts to push against the world of Sirenland and nothing will ever be the same.
When my coworker casually mentioned working as a mermaid at a tiki bar out west, I was flabbergasted and mesmerized. So when I heard about Lara Ehrlich’s Bind Me Tighter Still, I had to read it.
The story focuses on a young siren named Ceto who decides to see what living like a human is like. She gives up her tail, marries the first man she meets, and has a child, Naia. But it’s clear that this life is not what Ceto had hoped. She runs off with baby Naia and starts a mermaid burlesque in a bar on the coast, which grows with other entertainments like a Mermaid Coney Island known as Sirenland. Ceto leads her band of mermaids and attempts to protect them, and especially Naia, from the rest of the world. But when Naia turns 15, she naturally starts to push against the world of Sirenland and nothing will ever be the same.
After reading the book, I found that Ehrlich had written an article about her experience in a two-day Sirens of the Deep Mermaid Camp at the Weeki Wachee State Park in Florida, which is known for its sold out mermaid shows. It was astonishing to find out how far back folks in the United States have been performing as mermaids; Weeki Wachee opened in 1947. (There was also the Aquarena Springs, San Marcos, Texas where aquamaids performed going back to the 1950s). I was astonished to learn that the tradition goes back even earlier in the US: Australian swimmer, vaudeville performer, and movie star Annette Kellerman worked as a mermaid on the vaudeville circuit and the silver screen in the beginning of the 20th century.
I sat down to talk with Lara Ehrlich about all things mermaid/siren and her new book.