Flora/Florian, an orphaned Black sailor on the pirate-posing-as-passenger-ship Dove, and Evelyn, a young woman of the ruling Nipran empire (drawn from Japanese and British influences) traveling to her arranged marriage, fall in love during the journey. When crew members capture a mermaid to sell on the black market, Evelyn is horrified. Flora/ian, who knows that the Dove's passengers including Evelyn will be sold into slavery, helps Evelyn and the mermaid escape. That's Part 1 (the Mermaid) of this ambitious historical fantasy that charts an original course as it follows the fate of its two intriguing main characters through their encounter with a witch, and their effort to rescue Flora/ian's brother on the Dove and help the Sea, mother of mermaids, punish its captain for the harm he's allowed be done to her daughters. Full of political and social intrigue, the story also examines ways in which freedom is compromised. There is physical freedom denied in the Dove 's imprisonment and sale of its passengers, Evelyn's pending forced marriage, Flora/ian and Alfie's indentured life aboard the Dove, and the mermaid's capture, for a start. There is also the freedom to be true to one's self, beautifully explored and expressed through the gender inclusivity of the novel, including Flora/ian's own emerging understanding of identity. Flora/ian initially thought posing as a boy aboard the Dove was a matter of physical survival, but comes to realize she/he/they are gender fluid. For Evelyn, Flora/ian is simply the person she loves. (Age 12 and older)