My Love, My Love, or The Peasant Girl

A novel by Rosa Guy

September 1, 2002 • 5.5 x 7.5 • 168 pages • 978-1-56689-131-8

Rosa Guy’s tropical retelling of “The Little Mermaid” is the gorgeous, tragic love story of Desiree, a beautiful peasant girl who devotes herself to the handsome, aristocratic young man whose life she has saved. When his upper-class family feels that Desiree’s skin is too dark and her family too poor for a boy destined for power and wealth, Desiree proves that she is willing to give everything for love. This lovely reprint will break your heart.

About the Author

Born in Trinidad, Rosa Guy (1922-2012) was the author of fifteen novels, including Bird at My Window, The Friends, and A Measure of Time. She was a co-founder of both the Harlem Writer’s Guild and the Black Arts Movement. Guy received the Coretta Scott King Award, the American Library Association’s Best Book Award, and the Phyllis Wheatley Award, given by the Harlem Book Fair. Ms. Guy lived in New York City.

Reviews

 

“Rosa Guy is a fine writer and she continually gives us new issues to contemplate.” —Maya Angelou

“One of those rare and wonderful breed, a storyteller. May her tribe increase.” —Washington Post

“Guy’s evocative, lyrical prose makes the appearance of fantastical elements—such as Death personified with a glowing cigar clenched between his teeth—feel natural.” —Publishers Weekly

“The author’s lilting phrases and poetic grace evoke memorable scenes of a bucolic setting. . . . Guy is brilliant when capturing the dilemma of class.” —Black Issues Book Review

“[The novel] derives much of its undeniable appeal from the author’s ability to capture the rhythm and color of Caribbean speech.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

“It’s a testament to both of these heroines—so lovingly created, so achingly human, so believably true in their yearnings—that we want both of them to attain that ultimate mundane dream that made them so relatable in the first place.” —Los Angeles Review of Books