The Mermaid Mahjong Circle: A Fairy Tale for Women

by Claudia Grossman

A fairy tale for women, The Mermaid Mahjong Circle follows two lifelong friends and artists, Evie and Hannah, as they embark on an adventure that takes them from the present to the past and back again, thanks to a tale about a mysterious mahjong tile crafted a century ago. From the moment they discover the extraordinary tile on a beach near San Francisco, Evie and Hannah are caught up in the adventure of their lives, an amazing journey that tests the parameters of how far they can open their minds and their hearts to the power of friendship, of art, and of believing in something outside of reality that will change them forever. Smart, funny, and whimsical, with a touch of magic, The Mermaid Mahjong Circle is a nod to women empowering themselves through the things that matter most to them. Enter the circle and become enchanted.

Genres: Fiction

198 pages, Paperback

Published May 6, 2020

About the author

Claudia Grossman has spent her career as an advertising and marketing copywriter, both in New York and Los Angeles. She has been published in the Los Angeles Times, in Victoria magazine, and in blogs for both More magazine and skirt! magazine, as well as having authored a series of children’s educational books about Jewish culture. She writes a blog of often humorous life observations entitled Rice on Your Head (www.riceonyourhead.com). She and her husband live in LA, although San Francisco will always have her heart.

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a time when it seems like all books with female protagonists is about how they are either falling in or out of love, it is refreshing to read one that has friendship and creativity as the motivation for the female leads. I loved every second of this book. The women are full of creative energy and you feel like you are going with them on their journey. I enjoyed the structure of flipping back and forth from the past to present so that the magic is revealed slowly. It’s fantasy without being over the top. I highly recommend this book, it is light but substantial, all the characters are enjoyable and it just might inspire you to create something beautiful of your own.

[Larry Geller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was fascinating and very fast reading. The main characters brought back memories of my own mother and her sister. The author, Ms. Grossman, has a great imagination. She wrote a very intriguing novel. Can't wait for her next work of art.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of the novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 3 / 5

The Mermaid Mahjong Circle follows two artist friends, Evie and Hannah, through a fairy tale adventure that starts after finding a special mahjong tile. The tile leads them to meet all sorts of local artist women that seem to be connected, both in the past as well as the present. Knowing more than that about the story would take away some of the magic.

The characters were woven together very creatively and the author, Claudia Grossman, must have a wonderful imagination to tie in so many different elements. I thought the book was indeed whimsical and charming, a really sweet story about art and strong female relationships. I appreciated how Evie and Hannah were always supportive of each other. This was definitely a positive, but I also couldn’t ignore that everything just tied up way too nicely. There really wasn’t any main conflict in the story or growth. In a fairy tale, I’d expect to walk away with some learning and maybe the book would have been better served if there was just ‘more’. Maybe the characters should have struggled a little more - whenever they encountered a problem or riddle to be solved, the answer just came to them with no effort at all. I’d definitely position The Mermaid Mahjong Circle as more of a short story versus a full length novel. It’s a very light and easy read, so could be enjoyable if you’re looking for a pretty, feel-good story.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this book is a cute, shorty fantasy that is a breath of fresh air! It is written in a manner that appeals to your senses and with a good imagination - you are in the sea with the Mermaids! I am a Mermaid lover & a Mahjong player. Mahjong tiles play an important role in this story, but from a Mahj. standpoint....it is not very telling or involved.

The book is short - I believe 141 pages if I recall. I would highly recommend you attempt to read it in one sitting to appreciate the fantasy and allow yourself to enjoy it. Unfortunately, I read in short snippets and did not benefit from one trip into the sea.

[Zev · Rating 1 out of 5]

Synopsis indicated a concept that could have worked, but this book failed hard on its execution. What is the "fairy tale for women" in the full title? None of this is a faery tale. It doesn't follow the structures or the themes. Why only women? That makes the author sound kinda...moving on. This was boring! So boring that there is nothing to spoil. This whole book is a tourist ad for San Francisco. I kept having to look up what turned out to be landmarks and touristy things, thinking they were somehow important to the nonexistent plot. The way things were described in this book, I kept having to look up as well. Mostly clothing, but considering one of the characters was a jewelry designer, I did want to know. If she likes mermaids so much, how come she's such a big fan of pearls? Pearls are awful! If she'd mentioned lab-made, fine. But she kept going on about her buyer going to East Asia, which hints that they are not lab-made! And she likes diamonds too! No mention of them being lab-made or conflict-free, either! East Asians in general are exoticised, and there's at least two Magical Minority trope characters. One even has unusually blue eyes, which makes me think of "Memoirs of a Geisha." Sigh. Less than one percent of this book, which has "mermaid" in the title, is actually about mermaids. There's whole pages dedicated to fashion that suggests mermaid designs if you stare at it really hard, art depicting mermaids, but no actual mermaids unless you count the weird little asides where East Asian women play mah-jong. Even then, mah-jong is poorly described and it's just an excuse for exposition. The book is about clothing, clothing, cooking, tourism, and two other stories within the book that served no purpose except to pad out pages. The dreams each woman had would have been waaaay more interesting had they actually been experienced on the page and not just mentioned the next day.

If the two women live in San Francisco and have done so for a period of years, why are they going on a tourist trip like it's their first time there? If they were showing someone around, that would be absolutely fine. But they're not. This book would have been more interesting if one of them worked as a tour guide as a second job. Or even have a minor character do it, thus strengthening relationships between each and widening the book's scope a little. The structure of the book and some of the dialogue makes the book seem like it's trying to be a mystery, but it's just a heavy-handed tourism ad. Each chapter was really just a short story. None of them connected to one another, although many had similar themes. The prose was purple in a way that didn't work.

I keep mentioning this was a tourist ad for San Francisco. I had the same problem with "Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You' by Berthe DeClements. It was a tourism ad for Seattle, Washington, where I live, and some smaller towns I'm also familiar with: Lynnwood and Everett. The tourism ad that consisted of over half that book annoyed me, too. There's no story. Can we move on and have one now? is what I ask of both books, and with both of these, the answer is clearly no.
Sigh.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hannah and Evie are lifelong friends and artists who begin unexpected, but creative explorations together. They have been chosen by mermaids who help them broaden their horizons personally and artistically. Ultimately they choose to begin a center that will enrich the lives of female artists for years to come.

This story is more plot driven than character driven which seems typical of many fairy tales. While the reader learns a few things about the personal lives of Hannah and Evie they are really not the focus of the book. Instead it is their experiences with the mermaids and art that are the focus of the book. There are rich details given about art, food, the mermaids, and their undersea world. Each mermaid does receive a chapter to tell her story, but I would be very happy to read an entire book just about the lives of the mermaids because it was here that I found the stories most compelling.

The story has magic, a bit of humor and some lovely imagery. There is a text conversation from Lorelei to Evie that is especially whimsical and might have been one of my favorite moments in the book. Although the book starts out slowly I found that it became more engaging around chapter 6 with the introduction of Lorelei. For me the most interesting parts of the book seemed to occur when the women were interacting with one of the mermaids.

I received this book free as a goodreads giveaway in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Nina Maldonado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, cute read. We Zoomed with the author, and it was really nice chatting with her. She told us about her inspirations for the book and even read some of her favorite parts for us. This is a good read for women empowerment and friendship... reminding us to create, express ourselves, and that we can do anything we set our minds to.

[Brenda Rowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic book! Being an avid Mahjongg player and the mention of fairy tales for women, I had to read this book! It is beautifully written with rich characters and descriptions you can visualize easily. You don’t have to be a Mahjongg player to enjoy this book. Any woman who wants to get lost in a fairy tale, will love it!

[Marla Guttman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an enchantingly fun story. It’s an magical adventure that opens us up to all the creative possibilities that lies within each of our hearts. It has everything that a great summer read needs. You won’t be disappointed.

[Michael VanBruaene · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiring and lovely book. It reminds me of all the possibilities that life contains and its daily mystery. That there’s an inherent goodness to life and that we must open ourselves to its possibilities. Read this book and you’ll feel good and have hope.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun book to read especially if you're familiar with the area where it takes place. You can wander the streets of the city and realize how close you were to the characters. Fun book to play with.

[Fredi]

charming read!

[Sid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read

Good quick fun read for an afternoon. Light fluff but nice descriptions. Would have liked some more Man Jongg game play.

[Joyce Olsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for me.

Doubt I will recommend it to my fellow players. I'm not a fan of fantasy or science fiction. I do enjoy Mah Jongg though,
which is why I bought it.

[Laura]

Coming back to rate this one.