Set in the Eighteenth century Georgian London, The Mermaid and Mrs.Hancock is a languid but beautiful read. You cannot race through it. You have to take your own sweet time.

Mermaids have always been an object of fancy and the reason behind wild imaginations. We think of them as beautiful creatures with an alien sensuality that increases our interest towards them manifold. It is common lore that if a ship comes across merfolk then that voyage is bound to be doomed. That is what we have heard in the tales.

But this book takes a tangential curve to what is heard and believed about these apparently beautiful creatures.

Mr.Hancock had not even in his wildest dreams thought that his means of livelihood would be exchanged for a queer infant mermaid, that too one which was far from beautiful. It was dead when brought to him and he thought that so would be the fate of his mercenary life. But that's where the magic begins. Barring the not so encouraging start, the mermaid gains popularity and Mr.Hancock's pockets grow fuller by the day. One leads to the other and he and his mermaid find themselves in one of the oddest places to be, tempted by a great offer and this is where Mr.Hancock finds the lady who would bring about a marked change in their future, Mrs. Angelica Neal.

Angelica is one of those beautiful women who has never cared for what people said and thought about her, a fiercely narcissistic soul, with a never give up attitude that is the most admirable trait about this gorgeous lady. In fact she even went forward and challenged Mr.Hancock to get her another mermaid just to give him the chance of meeting her. The desire for affection can make a middle-aged solitary man go to lengths that even he himself was previously unaware of. And when miraculously he is able to achieve it for his lady, it casts a terrible character on him. Its presence changes the quality of the air around a person and enchants them into a world of melancholy that dupes them like drugs.

This is a very women-centric book in all means, because even though back in those ages society liked to think of women as simpering creatures meant to be fluffed up in gowns, wrapped up in jewels, taken out for rides, have their smelling salts about, be the mistress of the house and warm a man's bed, there were women who indulged in all of these yet had a fierce mind of their own. A calculated mind, adept at business with a keen eye and a fine way with words define the ladies of the novel:  Angelica Neal, her pimp Mrs.Chapell, Bel, Mrs. Frost, Sukie, Mrs. Lippard. All  these women have whips in their brains and each have their own purpose of mind and existence.

Imogen Hermes Gowar has a skill for creating beautiful imagery, especially when she describes the mermaid's exhibition in the house of ill-repute where there is a very heated scene with women (hardly) dressed as mermaids in translucent chiffon, men with just sailor pants and hats, appeasing the crowd with lusty rhythmic movements in the setting of a sensual underwater scenario, when Angelica revamps her grotto to setup a different yet stellar show for her guests and when she describes the effects of the magic of the mermaid.

The plot doesn't essentially peak at any one point of time, it's more of the revelation of fate and guts towards the end. The entire story slowly unfurls at a slow pace and the mood of the novel is quite grey. It's a read for those days when you look at the sky and you know that a storm is coming.