When the Tides Held the Moon

Kelley debuts with a captivating and perfectly balanced blend of history, fantasy, and good old-fashioned carnival magic. In 1911 New York City, Puerto Rican immigrant Benny makes a meager and dangerous living as an ironworker. When a commission comes in to craft the elaborate metal support for a huge glass tank, Benny seizes the opportunity to prove his worth. The satisfied customer turns out to be Samuel Morgan, owner of Coney Island’s struggling Luna Park carnival. Morgan offers Benny a home with the rest of the carnies and a better job if he comes along to catch the tank’s intended inhabitant: a real live merman, soon to become the star of the Luna Park sideshow. Benny is seduced by the promise of a better life and finds acceptance among the sideshow workers, but he knows that he’s made a terrible mistake immediately upon meeting the merman, Rio, with whom he is able to communicate. Deep beneath Rio’s fury and despair at being trapped, there is a heart as huge and untamed as the ocean. Though they’re from opposite worlds, the men grow closer until Benny must choose between the only place that has ever welcomed him and a love like nothing he’s ever known. The setting is transporting and the romance is heartrending. It’s a triumph. Agent: Saritza Hernandez, Andrea Brown Literary. (Apr.)