The Mermaid in the Millpond

By Lucy Strange and Pam Smy

History and myth entwine in this atmospheric tale of freedom and friendship from bestselling author Lucy Strange and acclaimed illustrator Pam Smy.

History and myth entwine in this atmospheric tale of freedom and friendship from bestselling author Lucy Strange and acclaimed illustrator Pam Smy.

Bess has left the London workhouse behind for a job at a rural cotton mill. But life at the mill is hard and cruel – a far cry from the fresh start Bess hoped for. The only way to survive is to escape, but the mill is like a prison with no way out.

Meanwhile, rumours are spreading about a vicious creature that lurks in the millpond. Bess is sure it’s all nonsense, until one night she sees something stir in the murky water.

But is it really a monster that lives in the depths of the pond? Or a creature trapped and alone, just like Bess, desperate to escape …

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Jan 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781800901117

Lucy Strange

Lucy Strange is the best-selling children's author of titles including The Secret of Nightingale Wood, a Waterstones Children's Book of the Month, and Our Castle by the Sea, which was nominated for the Carnegie Medal, shortlisted for the Waterstones Book Prize 2020, and was the first Independent Booksellers' Children's Book of the Month.

Book preview

For Lou

Sometimes the only way to save yourself is to save someone else …

Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Epigraph

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Copyright

Chapter 1

I’m told there is a mermaid in the millpond.

Not the sort of mermaid that sits on a rock, combing her pretty hair and singing to the moon. No, this mermaid is a monster – half-human, half-fish.

I’m told she has teeth like a pike and hands like a frog. And long webbed fingers that reach out of the water to catch animals that drink from the millpond at night.

I’m told she’s so strong she can strangle a deer. Once it is dead, she drags it down into the water, sinks her sharp teeth into its neck and drinks its blood.

I don’t believe a word of it of course – this tale the boss of the mill tells us. His horror story is meant to scare us workers into staying put. It is to make us too frightened to run away from the mill.

But the other children who came here with me from the London workhouse believe it. They are all hooked. They gawp and gulp at the tale like brainless fishes.

The boss and the gaffer show us around the cotton mill and explain what all the huge, noisy machines do. You have to take care around the machines, the boss man says. They can be very dangerous.

Then we’re taken to the dormitory where we will be sleeping. There are twenty of us children in total. Me and eight others from London, and the rest who were already here.

My bed is right by the window, looking out over the millpond below. The view is better than the view from the workhouse window in London, all smoggy roofs and chimneys.

The cotton mill is in a valley, edged by thick green forest. When the machines fall silent, you can hear birds singing. Shallow streams trickle down from the hills into the millpond. Water is drawn off to turn the giant wheel that powers the mill. Beyond the mill, the water pushes against a dam, rushing through a narrow gap and down into the fast-flowing river. This, the boss man said, is called the weir. And it is very dangerous. Everything seems dangerous here.

The girl in the

Reviews for The Mermaid in the Millpond

[ladycato · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.This book for the younger middle grade set (age 8+) absolutely charms with its dark yet hopeful story and fantastic illustrations. Bess is a recently-orphaned girl at a Victorian factory. Life is hard--abuse is rampant, hours are long, and the adults are awful. Bess isn't surprised by the cruelty of life anymore, though, and she doesn't want to make friends with other workers like Dot. Why get close to someone, to be hurt again? But when she realizes the rumored mermaid in the millpond is real--and trapped in a horrible place, just like her--she understands she's not the only one who suffers... and that burdens are easier when they are shared by friends.I adored this book. Yes, it is grim and realistic in its depiction of factory life, but it's also about empowerment, hope, and friendship. The illustrations are wonderful, too--moody and eloquent, and they add a lot to the story. I would have loved this book as a child, and I love it now, too.