The Sea

This is a well written but depressing story where every character is having difficult expressing and coping with their grief, losses and new identities. Samantha Hunt does a great job colliding fairytale with the stark reality of life after horrendous occurrences. Hunt’s creative approach is especially illuminated through the narrator’s weak grasp on reality when she is faced with multiple losses. The narrator is too afraid to face her story that she creates the mermaid narrative to give order to her chaotic grief. These types of stories are hard for me as I want to escape when I read, not dive into dealing with life after multiple suicides. Unfortunately, I know too well what can transpire in people dealing with the aftermath of a suicide. What occurs to this character, from my experience, is not far fetched. When there is a suicide you don’t just lose the person who commits the act, sadly you also lose parts of everyone around that person. The survivors are forever changed and often a part of them are lost.