Bind Me Tighter Still: A Novel

"The poetic prose mixed with the intense subject matter creates an undertow that will pull readers in."—Booklist

“A modern-day fairy tale that is both ghastly and beautiful.”—Kirkus

Mother and daughter mermaids navigate starting over and finding their place in the world in Lara Ehrlich’s debut novel.

The youngest siren sister, Ceto is weary of an existence driven by hunger, no better than a fish. She trades her tail for legs, marries the first man she meets, and bears a daughter—only to find domesticity as suffocating as the sea. Craving more, Ceto flees with her daughter Naia back to the ocean, where she reinvents herself as the star of a mermaid burlesque, performing in a lavish tank carved into the limestone cliffs above the waves.

At Sirenland, Ceto’s sensual performances and the erotic allure of her trained sirens transform the seaside attraction into a national sensation—a glittering empire where spectacle, desire, and female power reign. But as Naia comes of age and begins to question her mother’s vision, the boundary between empowerment and exploitation grows dangerously thin. When a shocking death rocks Sirenland, Ceto’s rule is threatened, and mother and daughter must reckon with the cost of performance on their already tenuous bond.

Bind Me Tighter Still is a lush, provocative exploration of power, sex, sacrifice, and motherhood—a celebration of female strength in a world determined to tame it.