Mermaids (novel)

Mermaids

First edition cover
Author	Patty Dann
Language	English
Genre	Bildungsroman
Publisher	Ticknor and Fields
Publication date	September 1, 1986 (1986-09-01)[1]
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	147
ISBN	978-0-899-19471-4

Mermaids is a 1986 coming-of-age novel by American writer Patty Dann, published in 1986 by Ticknor and Fields.^[2] Its plot follows a 14-year-old girl growing up with a wayward single mother in 1960s New England. It was adapted into a feature film of the same name in 1990, starring Cher and Winona Ryder.^[3]

Dann, a graduate of the University of Oregon and Columbia University, was working as a secretary in 1984, having abandoned her career aspiration of becoming a writer.^[2] In 1986, while working as a secretary for A&E, she began revising Mermaids, a period piece coming-of-age novel about a teenage girl set in the 1960s, a draft of which she had submitted as her MFA thesis.^[2] During the redrafting process, she changed the narrative perspective from third-person to first-person.^[2] After completing the redrafting of the novel, Dann found a literary agent who sold the novel to Ticknor and Fields, who published it in 1986.^[2]

In 1990, Richard Benjamin directed a critically acclaimed feature film adaptation of the novel, starring Cher and Winona Ryder.^[3]

• Mermaids in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

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