General Fiction
American Mermaid.
By Julia Langbein.
Mar. 2023. 336p. Doubleday, $28 (9780385549677); e-book (9780385549684).
When Penelope Schleeman, a 33-year-old English teacher, published her debut novel, a feminist eco-thriller entitled American Mer
maid, the last thing she expected was for it to become a viral sensation thanks to a popular Instagram influencer. Suddenly, her book is everywhere, and before long, Hollywood comes calling. Thus begins Penelope’s odyssey into the tumultuous world of screenwriting, where she’s paired with two young male screenwriters, Murphy and Randy, to adapt her novel for the big screen. Penelope relocates to Los Angeles, where she attends glamorous parties with her agent, Danielle, and watches her bank account balance grow to numbers she never even dreamed of while teaching in Connecticut. And yet, as she witnesses her…
