In 1785 London, merchant Jonah Hancock receives news no businessman expects: his ship has been sold for a mermaid. What arrives is no shimmering beauty but a grotesque, shriveled creature with claws, teeth, and the body of a fish. Yet curiosity proves more valuable than cargo, and soon Jonah’s fortune rises as all of London clamors to see the marvel.
His newfound fame carries him from grimy docks to glittering parlors, where he meets Angelica Neal—a dazzling courtesan with ambitions as sharp as her beauty. Their fates intertwine in a dangerous dance of desire, power, and peril.
But obsession carries a price, and the line between wonder and ruin blurs quickly. What will Jonah and Angelica sacrifice in pursuit of the extraordinary?
