Misadventures and Merfolk

4.4/5 ( ratings)

Brendan James, an obnoxious American travel writer known for his astonishingly rude portraits of the human race, has chosen the British Isles as subject matter for his third book - only problem is, he's stricken with writer's block and his deadline for the new manuscript is just days away. Having written not a single page, his career is on the line and he's desperate for material.

While traveling back to Dublin to deal with the unwritten manuscript in a decent hotel, a freak ferry sinking leaves him stranded for the night in a tiny village on Isle of Man called Heather Bay where the locals are gearing up to celebrate their annual mermaid festival.

Heather Bay is a picturesque, seaside resort town on the northern tip of the island, rich in pirate tales, mermaid lore and local characters and at this time every year, thousands of mermaid-crazed tourists flock to the village to take part in its renowned mermaid festival.

After being installed in less-than-satisfactory lodgings aboard a leaky houseboat, Brendan grudgingly noses around the village interviewing drunken fishermen and talking to whacked-out locals - that just might be his saving grace, for after one night on the island, he's so infuriated by the inhabitants that he begins to write again. The silly parades, the ridiculous matchmaking festivities and the old superstitions are far better than fiction, spurring his decision, not only to stay on - but to write an entire book about the village.

The village is a writer's dream with pick-pocketing parrots, a church that performs plastic surgery, underwearless Scotsmen in kilts and a bloodthirsty merman on the loose. But things get complicated when he meets Christine Hamilton, a mysterious local woman of ethereal beauty. Knowing that he doesn't have a chance in hell with her, he uses his romantic obsession with her as material for the book and the results are hilarious. In fact, his publisher back in New York is slating the new release to be another national bestseller. But Brendan soon realizes that he and Christine might actually be meant for each other and his scathing manuscript, by far the best work he's ever produced, would destroy the village and the woman he's come to love.