Poignant, Important Novella

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The Deep follows Yetu, the historian of a mermaid-type species evolved from the unborn babies of pregnant women who were thrown overboard during the slave trades. Yetu is responsible for keeping the pain and memories of their shared histories so her community can live in peace. The burden of this role is slowly killing Yetu, and she has to decide whether to flee to save herself but leave her people to suffer with the memories. Although on the surface it appears to be a short novella, this work packs so much in to think about in a beautiful, lyrical way. Through their incredible writing, Rivers Solomon pushes us consider the impact of intergenerational trauma and how we as a society need to come to terms with how the past affects the current and future. The Deep is an important work that should be read and re-read by everyone. I am already looking forward to diving in again.