MY LOVE, MY LOVE or THE PEASANT...

MY LOVE, MY LOVE or THE PEASANT GIRL by Rosa Guy (Henry Holt $8.95). Guy’s short novel, which recently became the source for the hit musical “Once on This Island,” is essentially a reworking of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” set in modern Trinidad. The undersea princess has been transformed into Desiree Dieu-Donnee, a lovely black peasant girl, while her prince has become Daniel Beauxhomme, the son of a wealthy “grand homme.” Guy’s prose derives much of its undeniable appeal from her ability to capture the rhythm and color of Caribbean speech, but her story feels padded, with too many double references to “this Pearl of the Antilles,” meaning both Desiree and Trinidad. Andersen’s mermaid sacrificed not only her loving home and royal rank but her beautiful voice to become human and be near her Prince; Desiree abandons a life of grinding poverty to live in opulence as Daniel’s mistress, which makes his decision not to marry her seem less arbitrary. To be near Daniel, Desiree strikes a deal with the voodoo gods she has been reared to trust, rather than with the evil Sea Witch. When they casually abandon the hapless girl, they seem far more faithless and cruel than her wealthy lover.