Photo: Goodreads
Sukey’s story is about a girl who sneaks off from tending the garden to go to the beach and sing a song to conjure “Mama Jo.” In Caribbean folklore, the name is translated to “water mother” or “mermaid.” The two become friends and eventually Mama Jo begins to gift Sukey with coins, which her dad seizes as soon as she comes home. The story goes on that Mama Jo blesses Sukey with a dowry of jewels and gold but under the condition she marry one man: Dembo. When he shows up, Sukey’s father kills him, takes the dowry and flees by sea… only to get swallowed up by the waves because Mama Jo wasn’t having it. Dembo is revived by magic so he and Sukey live happily ever after.
The tale is a sweeter spin on the original lore around mermaids. Igbo people passed down stories from centuries ago that half-fish, half-human creatures were visiting water spirits, per the American Museum of Natural History. The most popular was Mami Wata, who was known to heal the ill. Meanwhile, in the Caribbean, mermaids are known as sinister tricksters who seduce men to their deaths.
