Bind Me Tighter Still

<p><strong>Featured by <em>CHICAGO REVIEW OF BOOKS </em>one of "12 MUST-READ BOOKS OF SEPTEMBER 2025"<br><br>AUTHOR OF AWARD-WINNING <em>ANIMAL WIFE<br></em></strong><strong>WINNER OF CAI EMMONS FICTION AWARD and ERIC HOFFER AWARD<br></strong><strong>FOREWORD INDIE AWARD FINALIST </strong></p>
<p><strong>"The poetic prose mixed with the intense subject matter creates an undertow that will pull readers in."-Booklist</strong></p>
<p><strong>A modern-day fairy tale that is both ghastly and beautiful.—Kirkus</strong></p>
<p><strong>Mother and daughter mermaids navigate starting over and finding their place in the world in Lara Ehrlich's debut novel.<br></strong></p>
<p>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.<br><br>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. <br><br><em>Bind Me Tighter Still</em> is a lush provocative exploration of power sex sacrifice and motherhood—a celebration of female strength in a world determined to tame it.</p>