The Mermaid

AFTERWORD

When writing a book that includes a historical figure, there is always the temptation to cleave closely to the historical reality of that person—in this case, P. T. Barnum. Much has been written about Barnum (especially by himself—he wrote several books and modified his own autobiography numerous times), and so there was plenty of material for me to explore in writing this book.

However, I found that ultimately it did not serve the story if I presented the precise Barnum in all his complicated glory. My Barnum is a character who shares some characteristics with the real Barnum, but he is not meant to be a true, historically accurate rendition of Barnum.

He is the Barnum who suits my story, and if it’s not exactly reality—well, the Feejee Mermaid didn’t really exist, either.

I did use much of the existing historical record about the Feejee Mermaid hoax, including the performance by Levi Lyman as Dr. Griffin and the southern tour, and modified it to suit my mermaid.

As for Levi Lyman, he is often presented only as one of Barnum’s co-conspirators for the two most famous Barnum hoaxes—Joice Heth and the Feejee Mermaid. I wanted to know more about Levi Lyman but found information on him after the hoaxes to be very sparse. Like all fiction writers, I made up his story when I couldn’t find the one I wanted to read.