I'm going with 3 stars because I don't know how I feel about this novella.  I wanted to love it. I didn't hate it.  There were parts that I got lost in.  However, there were parts that lost me.  I own the hard cover, but had to borrow the audiobook from the library to get through it.  Perhaps a re-read at a later date...

Book source ~ NetGalley

Amorous Congress: A Collection of New Victorian Erotica is an anthology featuring a mouthwatering supply of tasty treats to tempt even the most jaded of palates. I should know. I’m kinda jaded. A little bit. But there’s not much I like more than naughty historical tales with great characters in wonderful worlds doing titillating things to each other. I know, I know, people have been kinky through the ages, but there’s just something about the prim and proper Victorian/Regency folks indulging in erotica that really gets to me. Nom nom nom!

Sense and Sensuality ~ T.G. Haynes ~ Very good

A Good Maid ~ Melina Greenport ~ My favorite

Sauce and Subtlety ~ Kaysee Renee Robichaud ~ Meh

Nancy ~ Charlie Powell ~ This is dark and violent.

Hard Work ~ Charlie Forrest ~ Okay

Hello, Victorian Ladies ~ Dulce Devine ~ This is a cheat. Not historical, just two women dressing in historical clothes for a fundraiser.

The Egg Timer ~ Brenda Clough ~ Nice!

Victorian Greeks ~ Bob Masters ~ Lovely

Caroline’s Escape ~ Catherine Guerrero ~ Whoa. Dark

Lessons ~ Margot North ~ Power play

Out of Mourning ~ Rae McGregor ~ Tugs heart strings

The Hidden Garden ~ Ivy O’Hara ~ Oooohhh…mmm…

Will You? ~ Jillian Boyd ~ Awwww

Works of the Flesh ~ Emmanuelle de Maupassant ~ Naughty!

Spellbound ~ Adrien Clark ~ Oh, a touch of paranormal. Nice!

Afternoon Tea ~ Marie Piper ~ Oh, my.

To Further the Cause of Science ~ Zak Jane Keir ~ Interesting  

There are some very strange (and most likely racist) people who like to get married at plantations.  So strange (unless they are racist cause the whole racist thing explains it).  What Rivers Solomon does in this hard hitting and powerful short story is illustrate not only the horrors of slavery but also of Reconstruction in the South.

At one level the story is about a slave who recovers/comes to terms/moves past the PTSD that must have come from slavery, and on another level it is a story of ghosts and the power of revenge as well as those who live in the dark.

It is quite beautiful and horrible at once.

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.  Also, Rivers Solomon’s preferred pronoun is they/them.

                I pre-ordered this novella in July, and at the time a group of people were upset that Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel in the live-action Disney remake of the Little Mermaid.  While people kept claiming that it was because her hair wasn’t red, the “backlash” basically bullied down to Bailey being black because some stupid/racist people thought black mermaids weren’t a thing.  I was finding books about black mermaids to mention and this showed up.  So, I pre-ordered.  Then I got approval via Netgalley. 

                Look, the book is good enough that my pre-order is still in.  Well, that’s not exactly true.  I cancelled the kindle pre-order and pre-ordered the hardcover (from an Indie bookstore, so the fact that I am paying 20 bucks for a book that isn’t even 200 pages should tell you everything you need to know about this book).

It’s not the little mermaid.  It isn’t.

                Solomon’s book is inspired by Clipping’s song of the same name (the song appeared on an episode of This American Life) and the group has written the afterword.  The story is about Yetu a member of a group of undersea creatures who are the descendants of women who were throwed overboard from slave ships.

                But the book is in large part about the power – both good and bad – of memory.  An while the timing is undoubtedly a fluke, it is important to note the response to the 1619 Project.  If you have not read the NY Times Magazine, please do so.  What it does challenge, in fact, is how we view the past and how we need to face and acknowledge that past as well as its effects if we are to move forward.  Tetu is caught in the past and her response to gain her freedom details why knowledge of the past is so important.

                The novella is in many ways a more interior story than an exterior story.  It is to Rivers Solomon’s credit that their writing keeps the reader, and this is down, in part, though the use of two different types of storytelling.  But the two styles are blended by Rivers Solomon’s skilled use of craft making the story not only strong and engrossing but also engaging the reader, almost bringing the reader into the time and place.