A Sweet Sting of Salt is a lesbian retelling of the story of the selkie wife. In case you need a refresher, selkies are creatures who can shift between seal and human forms. The wife bit comes from the legend that if a man can find a female selkie in human form and take possession of her seal skin, she'll be unable to transform, and he can marry her. So, from a life shifting between forms to enjoy sea and land, the selkie becomes a prisoner of a man as long as he can keep her seal skin hidden from her. Probably not a good way to begin a happy marriage.

Rose Sutherland's retelling of the selkie wife, focuses on, Jean, a village midwife, but also an outcast because she once fell in love with another woman; Muirin, a mysterious woman who Jean finds in the snow in the dark of night in advanced labor; and Tobias, who appears after the birth and claims both Muirin and the child as his. You can figure out the plot from that bit of summary.

What a summary won't reveal is the wonderful world-building that Sutherland does and the intensity of her characters. A Sweet Sting of Salt is capital-g Gothic in all the best ways. Endless snow storms, animals who seem to be a bit more than animals, menace, and silences.

If you're a reader of Gothic fiction or a reader of queer fiction, you'll take great pleasure in A Sweet Sting of Salt. You'll struggle with the bad (and good) choices you know the characters will make. And you'll explore a folk tale both dark and light. Most of all, you'll ache for Jean and Muirin and will regret every moment you'll have to spend away from them if real life is unkind enough to interrupt your reading.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. ( )

A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland is a tale that has been told many times before, but Sutherland is able to make it into a lyrical sapphic romance, combined with a mystery that slowly unfolds. The writing was so magical that the slower pace was welcomed so I could enjoy the beautiful way the author conjured up her retelling of the story.

For being a debut novel, Sutherland was able to create realistic characters, a fantastic(al) setting, a palpable feeling of yearning, and just the right amount of tension to have me wanting to keep reading to see what will happen next… even though I already knew from previous versions of the story.

I am very impressed with Sutherland and interested to see what they come up with next! ( )

I read this in one sitting, and it was no burden whatsoever. Historic fantasy fiction, pretty firmly and lovingly set in time and place and tradition, with more than one lovely lgbtqia romance. One of those books where you, the reader, know exactly what fantastical stuff is going on, yet the main character doesn't figure it out until it's explicitly revealed at the last possible second—but somehow it's not actually annoying here at all! A true feat. ( )

Historical Fiction with a Tinge of Myth
Review of the Random House Canada paperback, audiobook & eBook (April 9, 2024) read via a NetGalley Kindle ARC (downloaded March 14, 2024).

”Can not, Jean, can not! Must find my craiceann ròin*.” Jean still did not know the words, and she doubted she could repeat them if she tried, but she recognized them from Muirin’s story. The precious thing Tobias had taken from her.

This is magical historical fiction set in early 19th century Nova Scotia in Canada which is a queer retelling that blends Gaelic mythology with gothic atmosphere. Jean is a midwife living near a coastal fishing village who finds her mysterious neighbour Muirin out by the stormy shore one evening as she is about to give birth. Jean vaguely knew that her fisherman neighbour Tobias had brought home a new bride but the couple had led an isolated life. Jean assists in the birth of the child but is then soon confronted by the husband whose character she begins to doubt. Muirin herself appears reluctant to return home and Jean manages to convince Tobias that a period of recuperation is necessary.

Jean’s caring for Muirin and the child gradually develops into a love relationship, although Muirin is barely able to express herself in English and often resorts to Gaelic words. Although Jean does not understand the true nature of Muirin’s being, she knows there is something evil and possessive about Tobias’ motivations. That will eventually erupt into a dangerous and perilous situation for Jean as she decides to rescue Muirin and her newborn from an apparent captivity.

I thoroughly enjoyed this first novel from Rose Sutherland for its atmospheric setting and descriptions and the way it brought a new interpretation to historical fiction and myth.

My thanks to the author, the publisher Random House Canada and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this preview ARC, in exchange for which I provide this honest review.

Soundtrack
I couldn’t resist listening to Eric Whitacre’s “The Seal’s Lullaby” which you can hear on YouTube performed by the Voces8 ensemble conducted by the composer here.

Footnote
* If you Google for this, the definition which you will likely find is for the Scottish Gaelic Cirein-cròin. The meaning in the novel is somewhat different though where it is meant more as a transforming object. ( )

Set in the 1830s in a fictional village in Nova Scotia, this debut novel is a queer reimagining of the Scottish folk tale, The Selkie Wife. Jean Langille, Barquer Bay’s midwife, is something of a recluse, living on the remote outskirts of the main village. She has felt shunned by the villagers because of the vitriol spewed by the mother of her lifelong best friend—and at 19, her lover—who quickly marries her daughter off to a man and blames Jean for having corrupted her. But Jean believes she had at least won the villagers’ respect for her midwifery skills over the five years since.

One stormy night she hears what she thinks is an animal in distress near the salt marshes on her property, and when she investigates, she finds a woman who speaks a foreign language she takes for Gaelic in labor. Jean helps her back up to her house and delivers a healthy baby boy. Muirin is the fairly recent bride of Jean’s neighbor, Tobias, who Jean goes to visit in the morning to tell him he has a son and Muirin is safe and so he can bring Muirin and his son home. But when they return to Jean’s house it is clear Muirin does not really want to go and Jean invents a reason why she should stay longer. Tobias, Jean learns over the next few months, is violently possessive of his wife and determined to keep her new and only friend Jean, who has been teaching Muirin English, away from her.

That situation sets all the suspenseful action into motion. The story is full of interesting characters: Jean herself: headstrong, fearless, sometimes reckless, but fiercely protective of those she loves The half-Indigenous Anneke, her midwife mentor and a mother figure for Jean, who lost her own mother too young. Anneke’s son Laurie, a gay sailor who is Jean’s only other friend. Laurie’s lover, Dal. Muirin and her family, who Jean meets toward the end of the novel. The story held my interest from beginning to end, the tension throughout is palpable, and the writing is solid.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House/Dell, and Rose Sutherland for the opportunity to read an ARC of A Sweet Sting of Salt, in exchange for a fair and honest review. ( )