AMERICAN MERMAID

Tara Sands is the lively voice of this hilarious rags-to-riches story of a Hollywood writer's dream turning into a nightmare. Fans of women's fiction will be thoroughly entertained by Sands's humorous delivery. She becomes Penelope Schleeman, a down-on-her-luck high school English teacher whose bestselling novel is slated for a big-screen adaptation. Sands makes the most of a hilarious setup: After Penelope is hired to write the screenplay for her novel, she finds herself being pressured to compromise its heroine, a feminist mermaid, to fit the studio's sexist stereotype. Sands captures the growing drama as the fictional mermaid seems to be sending Penelope warning signs against the compromises. The result is a hilarious exploration of what it means to be true to one's art. M.R. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2023]