Francesca and the Mermaid

By Beryl Kingston

When one day, incredibly, Francesca sights a mermaid swimming away to freedom, she is inspired to escape the loveless and entrapping relationship she has become constricted by.

Wanting to be free of her supposed lover Jason’s, unsupportive remarks, she moves to Lewes, to stay with her loving friend, Agnes Potts.

It is here that her passion for painting is rekindled and she recreates her vivid memory of the mermaid.

Having never imagined herself as an artist, Francesca is encouraged by Agnes, and before long the mermaid is seen by Henry, who owns the local pottery.

Henry immediately sweeps her up and employs her as an artist, rebuilding the confidence that was so profoundly shattered by both her mother and Jason.

Grand plans are discussed to organize an exhibition of her art, but when Agnes suffers an accident, Francesca is given the difficult task of balancing her life between being an artist and a nurse for her loyal friend.

As routine settles, the two seem to be in domestic harmony, until Jason reappears as a con artist on the path for destruction.

Francesca’s new life is suddenly put at jeopardy and she realises how much it would mean for her to lose it all…

Beryl Kingston was born in Tooting in 1931 and was evacuated during the war. She studied at King’s College London, qualified as a teacher and headed an English department. She was been a published author since 1980 and is a self-confessed ‘political animal’, taking part in street demonstrations and protests. She was also a beauty queen in 1947!