The History of "Forty Mermaids"

"Une histoire" generally translates into English as a story,”a fictional tale or anecdote, while "l'histoire" means history as an academic subject or an account of true past events. My new novel, "Forty Mermaids" (Ottawa, Baico, 2026) is both. It’s a work of fiction which takes place against a backdrop of real events. It came out of my love of stories and my history background (M.A., Queen’s, 1973), and is my sixth Canadian historical novel focussed on a woman central character, whether historical or imaginary. The main characters in my earlier novels are: a folk song collector; a future feminist Member of Parliament; a women’s suffrage advocate; an aspiringfashion designer thwarted by the Great Depression, and a trade union leader. My husband’s interest in art gave me the idea of creating a Canadian woman artist as my next central character. When Roger retired from microbiology and began painting as a hobby, we began to buy art books, haunt the National Gallery in Ottawa, and take “Great Courses” on the great masters and schools of painting. Art history was all the more interesting to us because we’d never learned it as part of our formal education. The central character in "Forty Mermaids" is Merle Stokes, a promising young painter who starts out with a conventional education in art (and not much else), and moves from representational (or figurative) painting into modernism; that is, she gradually shifts from depicting recognizable, real-world subjects, such as people, landscapes, and objects, into more abstract works. Merle, a composite character, faces various challenges. Until she achieves some recognition, she was dismissed as a “Sunday painter,” a homemaker-hobbyist. When she makes newspaper headlines it’s as “Housewife Wins Art Prize.” The demands of domestic life, child care and the social life expected by her high-achieving husband take time from her vocation. The relaxed, uninhibited lifestyle of the 1920s, characterized by a lack of conventional restraints, affects her marriage. I decided that Merle would participate in the Contemporary Arts Association of Montreal, a real-life organization which chose the name “contemporary” rather than “modernist” because of the conflict in the art world over representational versus modernist art. The organization included such illustrious members as John Lyman, Philip Surrey, Jorie Smith, Paul-Emile Borduas, Louise Landry Gadbois, Marian Dale Scott and Prudence Heward, to name just a few. They believed that Canadian’s scenery had been well-documented by the Group of Seven and that now Canadian artists should experiment with other approaches, such as cubism, surrealism and abstract impressionism. Merle and my other characters live through three decades of great changes; the Roaring Twenties, the Depression of the 1930s and World War II. The Depression, a crisis of capitalism that devastated lives, led people to question the economic system. The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), a proxy war for the Second World War, became a compelling cause for progressive-minded people all over the world, who supported Spain’s elected government against the fascists. The Depression and wars are significant in Merle’s life. To some extent, Merle reflects my experiences as a writer (one of the arts) and my life in a world full of conflict. She’s me, but she’s not me. Fortunately for me, my husband has supported me in all ways as I’ve pursued “my craft and sullen art,” and that means everything. Also, there is no thrill like losing oneself in creating a story (or a painting.)