I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
I’m a mythology and folktale fanatic, and selkie stories are some of my favorites, so I expected to enjoy A Sweet Sting of Salt just from its description. What actually happened was I got completely sucked into the story and finished over two evenings because I couldn’t put it down, and now I want to go snuggle seals and live outside a little village by the sea.
Jean is a single woman in her twenties in the mid 1800’s in Nova Scotia. Due to some embarrassing trauma in her past, she’s outcast herself from the village, living alone near the beach with her two goats, flock of chickens, and a not-quite-tame vixen. She’s the village midwife, a skill she learned so she’d be useful, because to her mind no matter how useful she becomes she can’t erase the stain of gossip that swirls around her.
Muirin appears on her property in the middle of a storm, barefoot and in her nightgown, unable to speak much English. She’s in active labor. She could only be the mysterious new wife of Jean’s neighbor up the hill, Tobias, a fisherman who suddenly bragged to the whole village that he found his fairytale wife. During Muirin’s recovery at Jean’s cabin her English improves and, as they communicate better, Jean begins to suspect all is not well in Muirin and Tobias’s home. As Jean’s feelings for Muirin grow, she becomes more sure that something is amiss, and she’s determined to help, even when helping becomes truly dangerous.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I will say, since the promotional copy includes that it’s a retelling of The Selkie Wife, I knew what Muirin was from the start. I rather wish it was a thing to discover, because Rose Sutherland’s foreshadowing was wonderful and it would’ve been an excellent twist. If the reader isn’t familiar with the story, I hope the twist gets them, because it was set up and executed with style. Sutherland’s prose is both practical and lyrical, depending on the situation’s needs, which makes it a lovely blend of folktale magic and earthy pragmatism.
The world Sutherland developed is a mix of historical fact, fairy tale, and straight up fiction. The peripheral characters clearly have their own backstories and motivations, and the magical elements are woven in without jarring believability. I hope the author has other stories in the same universe, because I could easily see a legacy series built from Muirin’s family. A Sweet Sting of Salt was well worth the read. I highly recommend it and plan to pick up a copy when it’s released in April, 2024, for my library.
No Pithy Phrase 