Mermaid Fillet, the debut fiction novel by Mia Arderne is a must-read – it is funny, it is haunting, and it celebrates the complexity of  women, especially those living in Cape Town.

It is a crime novel set mostly in Cape Town’s Northern Suburbs, featuring the Goddess who looks over a set of seven main characters. Set in a world where mermaids exist, mermaid fillets are deemed to be a delicacy more prized and illegal than perlemoen.

Arderne’s book is written spectacularly – from quick jabs about governing political parties, to scenes of the Cape Flats which are easily relatable to Capetonians. Mermaid Fillet’s dialogue is filled with gems, like the description of being born wearing Jordan takkies, to Isaac and his boyfriend, and the dialogue between Letitia and her husband.
But underneath the sharp dialogue, toe-curling sex scenes and relatable references to the Cape Flats, it is a story of mental health and illness, sexuality, relationships and substance abuse, especially alcohol.

This relationship with alcohol is clear when Arderne writes about Isaac, who is referred to as a “mal naai”. There’s a poignant scene towards the end of the book between Isaac and his grandmother, where she tells him:

“It’s no coincidence that you drink like you do, or that your father drank like he did, or that his father drank like he did. This was intentional. They used alcohol as a warfare against us. And you, my boy, you’re losing”.

Arderne told The Daily Vox that the character of Isaac is the one she related to most.

The book is also haunting when talking about sexual assault and its memory of post-traumatic stress disorder. The death scenes are especially haunting to read and visualise.

Underneath the sharp dialogue, this book is a celebration of the characters of Letitia, Michaela, Ma and the Goddess, who we never see but feel in the novel. It is a celebration of their lives, their complex thoughts and lives. It is a tale of the lengths women go to discover who they are, whether in their twenties, thirties or in their middle age.

Beside the sharp, crisp writing, Mermaid Fillet has some flaws: at times it feels rushed, leaving one without closure, while the portrayal of Letitia and  Michaela typecasts coloured women as either a gangster’s wife or a UCT student. Towards the end, the plot feels rushed, and if you happen to not concentrate, you will miss out on the hints of the climax, a key revelation in the book.

But this is worth the read – it is funny, haunting and it leaves you with a renewed sense of power of the woman in all her flaws; she is the Goddess. DM/ ML

The book was officially released by Kwela Books in August. The book is available at book stores across the country and on it’s website at mermaidfillet.com