
Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods
Published: 2025
Recommended for fans of: Patricia McKillip, Juliet Marillier, To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo, gritty folktale retellings, The Gothic, the poem Sea-Fever, The Pirates of the Caribbean
This is a retelling of The Little Mermaid (with some elements of other tales besides), set in the coastal city of Saint-Malo, France (see that lovely image below). Not the Disney version though – this is the real folk legend of the seamaid that so many sailors used to believe in.
Lucinde was adopted as a child by a rich shipping family. She is at home with the sea but on land, her poor feet won’t cooperate. One day, she saves a drowning man… and that’s only the first of the disasters that befalls her.