Ringlet and the Day the Oceans Stopped

“Ringlet is an individualistic mermaid who, after causing chaos at choir practice, sets out to replace the conductor’s broken baton and ends up far from home, adrift on recalcitrant currents and fighting for her survival, as she is ruthlessly pursued by one of the Stella mermaids who has identified Ringlet as a threat to her dominance. Ringlet’s destiny, a mystery to Ringlet herself, is established early on when she is identified as ‘The One’. Ringlet has a great task to accomplish, a task that will change her own life and have a positive impact on the oceans in peril. Ringlet is not only individualistic, she is also brave and loyal and has an endearing sense of ironic humour as well. This hugely inventive undersea narrative, built around a very original mythology, takes a little while to get into, but it soon envelops the reader in its wonderful idiosyncrasies, and colourful characters, including a ponderous and pedantic scientist-researcher named Cumulus Allweather and a seagoat called Lumpy Custard, who has a great fondness for turnips. Excitement and tension build as Ringlet gets closer to her goal. The ending is both surprising and highly satisfactory. Felicity Williams has created a world that is startlingly different from the ‘Upworlds’ – our dry land – and at the same time comfortingly familiar. The novel’s message is also pertinent: ‘We need restlessness . . . without it there’s boredom . . . we like it and we need it . . . it’s where the ideas are’. This is a tour de force deserving of a wide readership. Highly recommended.” — Review by Bill Nagelkerke, Magpies Magazine.