Jean, a midwife, gets woken up by a cry outside her home in the middle of the night. It is raining heavily, and she can't believe her eyes... a young woman in labor is standing there, and she can barely speak any English. Jean has no idea who she is or where she came from, and the woman is unable to communicate that to her. Jean helps her deliver the baby boy. A few hours later, a neighbor up the road by the name of Tobias shows up and claims his wife and son. Muirin, who had just started to relax and learn to say a few words, immediately withdrew and became silent again. Jean knows she should stay out of their business, but she is worried about Muirin, so she begins checking on her regularly. The more time she spends with her, the more worried she becomes. As she promises to help Muirin escape, she is not only putting Muirin in danger but herself as well.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat. Tobias was a piece of work, let me tell you. He was an awful person, & it left me with a sense of dread for most of the book, just waiting to see how he was going to retaliate next. I am not going to spoil it by telling you who Muirin really was or where she came from, because I want you to discover that for yourself when you read it. If you enjoy books with a bit of a fantasy or a mythological element to them, then you will enjoy this one.

4.5 stars

I love folktales and mythologies and I particularly love it when an author reimagines the story so that it's not a retelling, but rather an "inspired by" story. The selkie folktale is one that I've read a few times, but it's not one that I have come across often in modern tales. The story has always been on the disturbing side, with the fisherman basically keeping the selkie woman against her will, so I liked the take on this one. The sapphic romance was a slow-burn on, one that was built on friendship first, and that worked very well with the slow unfolding of the tale. I thought the author did a fantastic job of laying out the different threads of past and present and weaving them together into a satisfying tapestry. I also liked that while queer love was not exactly accepted at that time, that Jean and Laurie each had some close supportive friends, as well as each other, and that although the way Jean was treated by the town was terrible (because of that horrid woman), things did change over time. It seemed realistic to me that she assumed they tolerated her only because of what she could do for them, but that it was more complex than that and that as she let some of them in, things started to change.

I loved Laurie's character especially, because while he didn't always agree with Jean's decisions, he fully supported her and would just try to keep an extra out for her, even in the midst of her not so stellar decisions. I loved their friendship and how they each knew when to push and when to let things be. I cheered when his partner showed up! But the author did a great job with Jean as well, because even as she made bad decisions, you were rooting for her and yelling at her to hurry up.

Kicker was another side character that I loved. Besides being hilarious, she was brilliant and I love the role she took on at the end. Booyah!

Thinking back, there was so much I loved about this story. It might be a bit slow for some, but I thought it was perfect and really set the scene for a historical folktale. I loved the setting of Nova Scotia in the 1800s. I loved how she incorporated the burning of the privateer schooner Young Teazer. I loved how Jean was basically adopted into Anneke's family. I loved Jean's stubbornness, her desire to make it on her own, her pride in doing her job with excellence. I loved the vixen and the role she played in the story. I loved the seal-like traits that Muirin showed early on and how their love story grew slowly but surely. I loved that Jean "held her love in an open hand".

I would recommend this to fans of folktales, sapphic romances, historical fiction, and happily ever after stories.

Overall, this was a fabulous debut novel and I look forward to reading future books by Sutherland.

I received an advance review copy from Netgalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I enjoyed this book so much. It was hard to put down, especially during those last chapters. They were packed with so much information and action. First as Muirin and Jean try to escape a pursuing Tobias. Then as Muirin tells the story of her life and how Tobias managed to steal her away from her family. Tobias became quite unhinged toward the end and I wondered how Muirin would get away from him.
I loved all of the other characters in the book except for Tobias and Mrs. Keddy. And I wanted to know more Dal.

Jean is the village midwife. The only one around for miles.
One stormy night a sharp cry awakens her in the middle of the night. At first, she was convinced it was a dream until the cry came again. She discovered a young woman in labor and drenched to the bone.

Communication is a little difficult, as the woman barely speaks English. So Jean is left to wonder where she came from. She can only assume that the woman is the new wife of her closest neighbor Tobias. When he arrives in the morning looking for his wife Muirin, Jean has even more questions regarding the couple, especially when Muirin's demeanor changes upon her husband's arrival.

When she shares her concerns about the couple with her mentor, she is reminded to keep a little distance from the couple, for fear that he will further isolate his wife and child.

When she sees the couple in town, Jean is glad to see Tobias has taken her advice, to get his wife out and about. When she spots her former best friend's mother whispering to Tobias, she knows exactly what gossip she is spreading.

When to tries to visit again, he warns her to stay away from his wife. And when she sneaks back later after he leaves, she finds her friend locked in the house. She has to help Muirin and her baby get away before things get worse.

Thanks so much to the author, Penguin Random House and NetGalley for this ARC to review.

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.

I’ve always loved folktales and the stories with mermaids and selkies are a favorite of mine. This book was just.. perfection. The author weaves an extraordinary tale with characters I actually cared about. I was SO invested in what was going on, it really had my heart pounding.

Jean is the village midwife. She lives alone and an hour outside the village. She works hard at her profession because she feels that if she doesn’t, no one will like her or respect her. The rumor that she likes girls instead of boys follows her, even years after her only relationship ended. One night during a storm, Jean hears screaming outside her home and rushes outside to help. She finds a woman in a nightgown in labor by the marsh. She brings her inside and helps deliver her baby. The two form a fast friendship but as the woman’s husband comes to retrieve his wife, Jean can sense that something is very wrong.

This is a book that will keep you turning pages. It does have a few slower parts, but that wasn’t an issue for me. The romance in this book is beautiful. It is just so natural and there’s so much yearning. I couldn’t get enough. This was easily a 5 star read for me. I will be thinking about this story for a long time. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Random House Ballantine for the ARC.

Besides the stunning cover, the first thing that drew me to A Sweet Sting of Salt was its allusions to the Scottish folktale, “The Selkie Wife.” I haven’t read that folktale, but I have heard it referenced in several books over the past few years. I was excited to read this reimagining of the story, now from the perspective of women and with a sapphic love story at its heart.

A Sweet Sting of Salt takes us to Nova Scotia in 1832, where a midwife named Jean will help a stranger, Muirin, deliver her baby one November night. But when Muirin’s husband Tobias comes by to find her, Jean starts noticing red flags right away. Why is Muirin, who speaks basically no English, so uncomfortable around her husband? Why is Tobias so cagey about how he and Muirin got together? And why did he never warn Jean—the only midwife around—that his wife was pregnant?

On the one hand, A Sweet Sting of Salt has a Gothic, eerie vibe that grows stronger as the book progresses. Tobias might seem like a nice guy… but something bad seems to be going on behind closed doors. The middle and later parts of the novel feel as tense as a thriller, propelling the reader forward.

Adding to all that is the hint of magic and mystery throughout. Why was baby Kiel born with webbed hands and feet? What is this unfamiliar language Muirin speaks? What is this secret item she wants back before she can consider leaving her husband?

However, beyond all the suspense and thrills, A Sweet Sting of Salt is also a love story between two women at a time when such relationships weren’t as widely accepted. Jean has history with another local woman, and things ended badly. Jean is terrified to make the same mistakes again, so despite her deepening feelings for Muirin, she’s hesitant to act on them. Of course, Muirin’s increasingly threatening husband only adds to the risk there. I love how Jean and Muirin grow to trust and care for one another, even despite the language barrier and the possible danger they’re in.

I enjoyed the way the story unfolds here, the characters (including side characters like Laurie and the goat, Kicker), and the way everything culminates in a magical ending.

A Sweet Sting of Salt is a beautifully written and atmospheric novel of romance, suspense, and a folktale given new life. This is an arresting debut, and I look forward to reading more from Rose Sutherland.

I absolutely loved this novel. Despite being more of a medium paced book, there was no point where I was bored. The pacing was absolutely perfect! I'd never heard of the Selkie wife before, so this was a great introduction to the myth. Though I'm convinced this will just replace it's spot in my head. This is actually the whole myth.

I can't wait to read more by Sutherland.

In A Sweet Sting of Salt, Rose Sutherland’s debut novel, I found it a captivating Sapphic twist on the Selkie legend, an endearing love story that will thrill and chill you with the atmospheric storytelling. Right from the introduction, the story grabs your attention with the queer overtones and the mystery of Muirin.
Rose Sutherland slowly unveils the connections in “A Sweet Sting of Salt” which makes it all the more chilling when you recognize the truth of what Tobias has done to Muirin. I also love the haunting quality to Jean’s loneliness, her inability to feel part of the townspeople and how in opening up to Muirin, in helping her, Jean forges connections with others and heals herself of old wounds. I love the thrilling action and the uncertainty of what Tobias will do next, the mystery and intrigue of how Jean attempts to save Muirin.
If you love sapphic love stories, this beautiful retelling of the Selkie legend will have you rethinking the original stories and you will find this a captivating Sapphic twist. The ending is beautiful, the love story enchanting, and the reveal of Muirin’s nature incredibly well written. The narrative is like a force of nature, making you live and breathe Jean’s world.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

A Sweet Sting of Salt is a queer reimagining of The Selkie Wife and follows midwife Jean whose small town life is upended when a young woman in labor turns up at her door in the middle of a stormy night.

What a breathtaking read! Sutherland absolutely nails the atmosphere, the intrigue, the fantasy of this story. I will be thinking of it for a long time. Everything about this book was utterly gorgeous, I especially loved the way that the story unfolded, the way it was so slow and well-paced, yet also kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I didn't know anything about The Selkie Wife going into this, and I think that made the ultimate reveals of the fantasy elements of the story that much twistier and more interesting. Plus, the yearning! Five stars for the yearning alone.

This books takes you on a journey to a little fishing town in the 1800s into the life of Jean, our main character. It is full of mystery, love, and fantasy as Jean meets and becomes friends with her neighbor Muirin. I really liked the mystery surrounding Muirin and her marriage to Tobias as well as the budding relationship between her and Jean. Theirs is definitely a slow burn that keeps you coming back as well as what’s gonna happen in Muirin’s marriage. The need to know the ending is what kept me reading during the slow middle section. While the beginning sucks you in and you keep reading for the ending, the middle dragged on for me and felt too slow. It was full of Jean’s day to day and inner monologue and felt repetitive with little moments between her and Muirin or Tobias. I just wish more had happened during that part, but was quickly brought back into the story as I got to that last quarter of the book.

Overall, this was a good but slow read that I do recommend.

Read if you like…
•wlw
•mystery
•mythological creatures
•historical fiction

In this engaging and well-paced debut novel, a queer take on fantastical folklore is grounded in a vividly depicted setting whose remoteness contributes to the undercurrent of menace that permeates the tale. The tone of the narrative does not shy away from the violence inherent in its source material, but there is also ample room for joy in the characters' lives. The ending may divide readers; as the main and secondary plots drew to a common resolution, there were too many coincidences for my liking, but others may find those parallels to be graceful. In any case, this is a pleasurable read; the appealing characters and intriguing locale more than compensate for any quibbles about the ending.

The cover of this book really put me off. I didn't even remember requesting it when it showed up on my kindle. Outside of that it's a book I really enjoyed.

A Sweet Sting of Salt is a gorgeously written, sapphic retelling of the Selkie Wife folktale. Readers are pulled into the story from the very first chapter and it does not let up from there. Details about Muirin’s and Jean’s separate pasts are teased out throughout the story creating deep, compelling characters that you want to see happy when all is said and done. The supporting characters of Laurie and Anneke add to the narrative and Jean’s story while also highlighting Nova Scotia’s history and its people. Honorable mention to Jo and Del, characters introduced late in the book, but who have an important role to play in their respective roles.
This was a quick, enjoyable read that I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of historical fiction and retellings with a twist!

A Sweet Sting of Salt is one of my top reads of the year FOR SURE. I want to reread it already! 1800s Nova Scotia. Jean, the local midwife living on the outskirts of the village, discovers a woman about to give birth in her backyard trying to go into the sea. Jean soon realizes that it's her neighbor's secret wife and there is something fishy going on. Sapphic retelling of the Selkie Wife!! One of my favorite folktales.

I don't think any words can explain how much I loved this book. I was texting my sister live updates of my reading journey becuase I could not keep it to myself HAHA. But actually, I am telling everyone I know to read this book. There were times where I was so scared for the characters that I read ahead to make sure they were okay before going LOL the suspense was INSANELY GOOD!! And the sapphic yearning made me want to cry!!

I'll be honest, it took me a long time to get this started. but once I got about ~50 pages in I was hooked and could not put it down!! I recommend anyone who wants to read this to give it a chance and you won't regret it. 5/5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC~~

I was preapproved to read this book a year ago, but I can’t believe how long I waited to read this because I ate up this book in just a few reading sessions. I was not actually familiar with the folktale of the Selkie Wife when I picked this up but was still intrigued as it being a sapphic reimagining. The relationship that grows between our protagonist Jean and the mysterious Muirin is so sweet in contrast to the tension between Jean and Muirin’s husband Tobias, which get to deadly levels. I also loved the interactions between Jean and her mentor Anneke, along with her best friend, Laurie. Laurie and Dal’s relationship also fascinates me and would love a book about that as well.

The seaside setting was also cute and almost idyllic if it weren’t winter and if you weren’t slowly unraveling the horrific mystery of Jean’s neighbors. Even while knowing that the mystery centers around selkies, the mystery and the character relationships really pull you through the book almost playfully. I fully enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to anyone looking for a sapphic story with a bit of thrill and a touch of fantasy.

Jean is her small fishing town’s only midwife, and although she feels very isolated out in her shoreline cabin by herself, she takes great pride in her work despite the townsfolk’s opinions of her personal life. When she encounters a mysterious woman on her property in need of her help, she’s thrust into a precarious situation that will change her life in ways she couldn’t have ever imagined.

This was a beautiful piece of folklore with some fantastically engaging writing and a great gothic maritime atmosphere. Some plot points were a little obvious given the thorough foreshadowing and the fact that I knew it was a retelling from the beginning, but I don’t think it hindered my reading experience in any way. The final confrontation does ultimately feel a little anticlimactic considering the build-up, but it is fairly satisfying how it plays out, and it’s a small nitpicky issue in an otherwise near-perfect story. My favorite aspect was the thought and care put into the queer and indigenous representation and the obvious love the author has for the setting which made the read a pleasure. This book was a delight to read and I look forward to what the author does next!

I saw this book tagged as a queer rendition of the Selkie Wife. I was not familiar with the Selkie wife so I really had no idea what to expect. I didn't even know what a selkie was. I thought the cover was cool and decided to take a chance. I am so glad I did.

This book is set in 1700s Nova Scotia and the main character, Jean, is a midwife. Right there, I'm into it. I love a book about midwives. It reminded me a little bit of The Frozen River (which I loved), even though the storyline was completely different. Jean unexpectedly delivers her neighbor's baby in the middle of the night and though they speak different languages, she understands that something is off with the woman. She knows better, but she can't help inserting herself into the situation to make sure the woman is okay, much to the displeasure of her husband. I really enjoyed the storyline and was surprised by the ending; however, if you are familiar with selkie mythology than you may not be,

*I was provided a digital galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I very much so enjoyed this! it's nothing revolutionary in terms of plot, but it did the story justice and was just what I was hoping for. the setting and characters were interesting, i enjoyed the development of Jean and Muirin's relationship and the build up of tension. there are some things that weren't quite believable, but hey -- it's a fairytale.

A Sweet Sting of Salt is a quiet, unhurried kind of book with a mystery and a romance that each unfurl slowly. Jean is a midwife in a small coastal town who lives on the margins of society. Her first love was swept away in a whirlwind marriage before the story begins, leaving Jean to deal with the town's suspicions and gossip alone. She keeps to herself, serving the women of her town with firm but gentle guidance and skill, content to spend her days living quietly and independently in the cottage her father left her when he died.

Late one night, Jean is awoken by a woman's pained cries outside her window. She runs out into the stormy night and finds Muirin, a laboring woman who is wandering lost in the dark. Although Muirin doesnt speak English, Jean manages to convince her to come inside and deliver her child in the warmth and safety of her home. They become fast friends despite the language barrier, and what follows is a tender love story.

The writing is threaded through with Jean's determination, her stubbornness, and her aching loneliness. As an ADHD reader, I have a tendency to reach for more fast paced, high action types of fantasy books, but I'm so glad I made the time to read this one. It's beautiful and well worth diving into.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing a digital galley for me to review.