A Sweet Sting of Salt
A Novel
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
A young woman uncovers a dark secret about her neighbor and his mysterious new wife. Now she’ll have to fight to keep herself—and the woman she loves—safe.
“A modern sapphic updating of the selkie wife folk tale that’s already scoring with readers”—Parade (A Best Romance and Best LGBTQI+ Book of the Year So Far)
“Lush, atmospheric, and threaded with multiple kinds of magic.”—Paste
AN ELLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
When a sharp cry wakes Jean in the middle of the night during a terrible tempest, she’s convinced it must have been a dream. But when the cry comes again, Jean ventures outside and is shocked by what she discovers—a young woman in labor, drenched to the bone in the bitter cold and able to speak barely a word of English.
Although Jean is the only midwife for miles around, she’s at a loss for who this woman is or where she’s from; Jean can only assume that she must be the new wife of the neighbor up the road, Tobias. And when Tobias does indeed arrive at her cabin in search of his wife, Muirin, Jean’s questions continue to multiply. Why has he kept his wife’s pregnancy a secret? And why does Muirin’s open demeanor change completely the moment she’s in his presence?
Though Jean learned long ago that she should stay out of other people’s business, her growing concern—and growing feelings—for Muirin mean that she can’t simply set her worries aside. But when the answers she finds are more harrowing than she ever could have imagined, she fears she may have endangered herself, Muirin, and the baby. Will she be able to put things right and save the woman she loves before it’s too late, or will someone have to pay for Jean’s actions with their life?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sutherland's winning debut, set in 1830s coastal Nova Scotia, creates a cozy queer haven in an unforgiving but subtly magical environment. "A spinster midwife at just four and twenty," Jean Langille sees her solitary life careen in an unexpected direction when she finds a woman in labor on her land in the middle of a stormy night. Jean delivers the baby and learns that the woman, who speaks almost no English, is Muirin, the mysterious wife of a neighboring fisherman. The two quickly become close and Jean resolves to help Muirin escape her troubled marriage. The story's meticulous attention to detail regarding character and setting is offset by its measured pace, as the reader will have discerned Muirin's supernatural secret long before ever pragmatic Jean suspects anything out of the ordinary. Still, Jean's relationships with Muirin and the few other townsfolk she trusts are pleasantly sweet, and the thrilling climax and satisfying resolution are well worth the extended development. Fans of folkloric fantasy should check this out.
