This is a story of mythology about water breathing creatures. They are descents of African slave women tossed overboard. They have built their own underwater society. They reclaim the memories of their past and one person holds onto them intill the rembrince. The memories are traumatic, painful, wonderful, terrible, and miraculous. Their past is to traumatic to be remembered regularly so they are held by one person the historian, but one a year the have the rembrince, where they are shared with everybody.. The reason they hold the rembrince is because the memories are slowly forgotten throughout the year, and the people crave to remember their histories. Without the historian they would all perish, their histories are their will to live without them they would have no reason to continue living. I think this is a good book so if you have a chance give it a go.