Merry Gentry - Character Profile

Character Profile

Meredith NicEssus is a faerie princess turned private investigator in a world where faeries are not only known to the general public, but are also fashionable. She takes on the pseudonym "Merry Gentry" to hide from her family and her past while hiding out in Los Angeles, California as a private investigator at Grey's Detective Agency. Merry, the only Sidhe (pronounced "shEE") royal to be born on American soil, fearing the continuous assassination attempts on her life thinly disguised as duels, flees the Unseelie Court in a final act of self-preservation. Her glamour (the art of magical disguise through illusion) is nearly unrivaled at court, and she is able to pass herself off as a human with fey blood.

The general tone of the writing is less of an outright fantasy and more of an alternate history. The point of divergence from normal history is not provided, although hints are given about how the faerie history intersects with human history (Adolf Hitler, the Irish Potato Famine, and Thomas Jefferson are examples). In the books, Jefferson gave the Unseelie and Seelie courts asylum after the European courts exiled them—however with the caveat that they could not set themselves up as gods or make war on one another, by doing so they would risk being evicted from US soil.

Flash forward to present times. The fey are quite fashionable in the modern United States, and there are many faeriephiles. "Sightings" of the Elven American Princess have covered the tabloids for years now, and Queen Andais' magic is constantly following these false leads—which are becoming more popular than Elvis sightings.

At the beginning of the first book in the series, Merry's name full name and title is Princess Meredith NicEssus, Child of Peace, Besaba's Bane. "NicEssus" means, literally, "daughter of Essus"; it is the sort of name given to a child and laid aside once the child has come into his or her powers. That Merry used the name into her thirties is a sign that she is a late bloomer at best, a lesser sidhe at worst. After a child comes into their power, the last name is dropped. Later in the series it is revealed that Meredith is a fertility deity whose powers are of both courts.

As of the end of the second book in the series, Merry's titles are Princess of Flesh and Blood; at the end of the 4th book, The Red And White Goddess is added to her title by demi-fey who gave her the title when her magic gave wings to wingless demi-fey.

The series chronicles the return of Meredith to the Unseelie Court by way of an invitation sent by her Aunt Andais, the Queen of Air and Darkness in the form of her right hand, Doyle, also known as Darkness. She is given men from the queen's own guard, her Ravens, to guard her body and fill her bed as heir to the throne, provided she can conceive a child before her cousin. Later Merry adds to her collection of men first by taking the men offered to her by Queen Andais, as well as forming alliances with the Demi-fey and goblins.