Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone in a house that is slowly crumbling toward the Long Island Sound. His parents are long dead. His mother, a circus mermaid who made her living by holding her breath, drowned in the very water his house overlooks. His younger sister, Enola, ran off six years ago and now reads tarot cards for a traveling carnival. One June day, an old book arrives on Simon’s doorstep, sent by an antiquarian bookseller who purchased it on speculation. Fragile and water damaged, the book is a log from the owner of a traveling carnival in the 1700s, who reports strange and magical things, including the drowning death of a circus mermaid. Since then, generations of “mermaids” in Simon’s family have drowned–always on July 24, which is only weeks away. As his friend Alice looks on with alarm, Simon becomes increasingly worried about his sister. Could…
https://youtu.be/S3vO8E2e6G0 My friend and I saw Rocketman this past Monday, the bio pic about Elton John. My pivotal years – middle and high school – were in the ‘80’s and I was aware of some of his story but didn’t know about his early years. Of course, then you didn’t have the internet so you couldn’t exactly deep dive into his life. My whole life has had his music in the background. The way the film intersperses his music with his story is fantastic. It’s campy at times. It is Elton John known for his duck suit, baseball uniforms, overalls, dresses, and wild outfits so you can expect this. And, his signature glasses. The glasses cover a lot of emotion in the film. Quite devastating at times. I never knew he was a child prodigy. It’s jaw dropping to learn about his childhood in more ways than one. I won’t…