Sadly this wasn’t for me. I was so excited about the description but I only got about twenty pages in before I DNFed

A Sweet Sting of Salt
By Rose Sutherland
April 9, 2024

Jean, a midwife who is somewhat of a loner in her seaside town, comes across an unfamiliar woman in labor. Muirin, one of Jean’s neighbors' wives, was in labor. It doesn't matter that she doesn't recognize her, she knows she must help.
From there a beautiful relationship forms between the two women.

The story was a new take on The Selkie Wife with a sapphic twist that was just the most beautiful story I’ve read in a long time. I flew through this book. The folklore, the romance and rich historic feel of the books made it one of the best retellings I’ve read so far. From the first chapter of the book I was hooked, I didn’t want to stop reading it,


Thanks to Dell Publishing and NetGalley for the surprise grant of the advanced readers edition in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed for NetGalley:

I had a hard time with believing the dialogue and mannerisms for the time period. Unfortunately didn’t work for me.

How far would you go to rescue the person you loved? This is the central question for the protagonist, Jean, in Rose Sutherland's stunning debut A Sweet Sting of Salt. One cold winter's night, Jean is awoken by a scream outside her cottage and finds Muirin, the mysterious pregnant wife of Tobias Silber, in labor and freezing in the cold. After ushering her inside, it isn't long until Muirin's baby is born, but Jean can't help to wonder why she hadn't known about the pregnancy as the village's only midwife. Why had Tobias kept it a secret? And where had Muirin been trying to run to? All these questions consume Jean, and the truth seems to be way more sinister than she could have imagined.

This queer retelling of The Selkie Wife kept me hooked from the beginning. Even though I knew the entire time what was really going on with Muirin and her husband, the story kept me on my toes and I feared for Jean in her fight to get her love to safety. Sutherland is a talented storyteller and has no problem transporting readers to a time long past. The setting was executed splendidly and I can't wait for what's next from the author. Retelling a folktale and keeping it fresh can be a daunting task, but Sutherland was surely up to it.

This was absolutely beautiful! What a roller coaster of emotions!!! I really enjoyed the relationship that was built between Jean and Muirin. Watching how angry and jealous Tobias became as the novel went on…. Was a struggle.

It’s still hard to believe this is a debut from this author! Looking forward to what’s next.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc!!

On a cold autumn night in 1830's coastal Nova Scotia, a young midwife, Jean, hears a cry and discovers a woman in active labor outside her cottage.
Muirin speaks almost no English and after helping her deliver a healthy son, Jean realizes she is the wife of the fisherman who lives through the woods in the neighboring house. But when Jean fetches the husband Tobias, Muirin's demeanor changes and Jean becomes suspicious that all is not well with her neighbors.

I couldn't put A Sweet Sting of Salt down and finished it in fewer that 24 hours. Good tension and anticipation as the plot built.

wow, wow, wow, what a stunning debut novel!

jean is a midwife in a coastal town. when she and her mentor meet muirin and her baby, jean takes a liking to her, a dangerous one for the late 1800s. muirin's husband doesn't want her to speak, and so he decides not to teach his gaelic speaking wife any english. jean slowly teaches muirin and they build a bond like no other. as jean's attraction grows, muirin's husband grows more vicious, angry, and jealous. there are already rumors about jean's sexuality, but muirin is more important to her than the perception the townspeople have of jean.

this novel is atmospheric, beautiful, and moving. i cannot believe that this is a debut novel; it's perfect. i loved this book. i read it in one sitting, completely obsessed. sutherland is an author to watch; i cannot wait to read her next novel. five stars, hands down!

thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland

352 Pages
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Dell
Release Date: April 9, 2024

Fiction (Adult), General Fiction (Adult), Historical Fiction, LGBTQIAP+

Jean is a midwife in a small village. She has lived in this small house all her life with her father, but his recent passing has brought a pall over the place. Jean had an illicit affair with her best friend. Once her family found out, they quickly married her off and began dirtying Jean’s name to anyone that would listen.

One night during a terrible storm, a woman, heavy with child, is in Jean’s yard. She brings her into the house but does not recognize her. She realizes it must be the neighbor, Tobias’ wife Muirin. As a midwife, she helps deliver the baby and notices his webbed fingers. The next morning Jean sets out to let Tobias know Muirin and son are at her house, and they are doing well. Because Muirin does not speak English, Jean does not realize what she is trying to tell her.

The book has a steady pace, the characters are well developed, and it is written in third person point of view. I could see from the beginning of the book the basis of the story. It is one of my favorite themes. If you like Irish/Scottish/English folklore stories, you may enjoy this book.

Am ALWAYS here for retellings, and this twist on the classic folktale of The Selkie Wife did not disappoint! Jean is one of the best female protagonists I've read in a long time, especially as the author does such a fantastic job of conveying her own confusion about the magical events which she has become caught up in to the reader as well; it truly feels as you are living a fairytale, with all its ups and downs, right along with her. Beautifully written with delightful chemistry between Jean and Muirin -- and a villain you love to hate in Tobias -- I cannot recommend this book enough!

To get involved or not? That is the question! If you have something going on with your neighbor, do you stink your nose where it doesn't belong or turn a blind eye? I loved this spooky novel!

A haunting tale that was bursting with tension from the very first chapter. I feel tempted to put the descriptors cozy and dark in this review, despite them sounding like opposites. There was such a coziness to this story, similar to that of a fairytale told to you by your grandmother besides a fire on a snowy day. As dark as the atmosphere was, it never got to be TOO much that it would feel like horror or something scary. There was tension, definitely, and it was that tension that had me gripping my kindle until my knuckles turned white. The queer elements of this story were lovely and warm, and all of the relationships in it-platonic, romantic, and familial alike-were so raw and wonderful to read about. My only regret is that the blurb did not give so much away, as anyone even remotely familiar with selkie mythology will know from the very first pages what the final twist at the end is. Alas, the mystery moreso came in a domestic thriller fashion which I enjoyed for sure. This may be a bit too slow paced for some readers, but if you don’t mind a quiet lyrical tale with very little action but many Good Mystery Vibes, I highly recommend picking this up.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this queer folktale retelling! The story follows Jean, the town midwife, after a strange encounter with a pregnant woman in the night. She is drawn to this mysterious woman, Muirin, especially after seeing how she shrinks from her new husband, Tobias. Sensing something is wrong, she stops at nothing to help Muirin, and discovers something otherworldly in the process.

The word that comes to mind when I think of this book is “quaint”, in the best way possible. We follow Jean during her day to day life, tending to her patients, working on her farm and walking around her bucolic town. The setting really comes alive in this story and it’s a beautiful world to spend time in.

While the pace of this book is slow to medium, the tense action scenes were really gripping and I couldn’t stop reading. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until certain parts were over and I couldn’t put it down until I knew what happened.

Also queer representation! Some passages were brimming with queer joy and queer people just living their lives. Thankful for it in this book.

What a fabulous tale this was!

Jean lives alone and is a spinster at twenty-four. She has loved and lost, and is concentrating on her work as a midwife in the village. She spends most of her time alone, since the death of her father.

In the middle of a cold night, Jean hears a cry and isn’t certain she didn’t dream it, until it happens again and Jean is on her feet and out the door where she finds a woman. A woman outside, drenched and freezing, looking toward the beach and moaning horribly.

When Jean sees the woman is in labor, her mind takes over and she tries to explain what she is doing to the woman, but the woman speaks a type of rough language that Jean doesn’t understand. Assuming she must be the new wife of her neighbor down the road, Tobias, Jean delivers a healthy baby, with webbed feet and fingers. Shocking?

Jean is good at minding her own business, but there is something about this situation which isn’t sitting right with her. Why does the woman, Muirin, change so much when her husband is around? Jean isn’t sure if it is her feelings for Muirin or if there is trouble at home.

I absolutely loved this story! I do hope there will be more.

NetGalley/ RHPG/DELL April 09,2024

I went into this not knowing it was a sapphic retelling of The Selkie Wife, and I really enjoyed the story, even having no knowledge of the aforementioned tale. I loved a lot about this book, but especially how the author set the scene of the story. All the characters were so real to me and the town she lived in felt so real. The dialogue was a strong suit of this book, too. I loved the interactions between characters and especially between Jean and Muirin. You could really feel the animosity between Jean and certain other characters also.

I did feel like the story was a little predictable, and the big reveal at the end was only a reveal to the main character. I think the reader is meant to catch on fairly quickly as to what's actually going on. There was one part that surprised me, and I love when that happens. There were parts of the book that felt like they could've been shorter, and sometimes the descriptions or inner monologue of Jean felt longer than necessary.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine for this ARC!

This was a sapphic retelling of the an old Gaelic folktale, The Selkie Wife.

Jean is the towns midwife. She lives a life of isolation due to the gossiping of the townsfolk regarding the nature of Jeans relationship with her best friend when she was younger. Years later while she is still whispered about, she is also respected in her profession after years of her proving herself to be a competent midwife. On a cold, dark night Jean hears a disturbance outside of her home. She finds a very distressed woman in labor and brings her into her home. Muirin is terrified, seems confused and there is a definite language barrier between her and Jean. Through Jeans patience and repeated attempts to communicate with Muirin, she learns she is the wife of Tobias, one of the townsmen that lives not too far from her property. Jean helps Muirin deliver her child who is a healthy boy but has webbed fingers and toes. Jean doesn’t think too much of this anomaly, she just figures he was born with some extra skin and doesn’t see the need to anything else about it. The next day she leaves Muirin and the baby at her cabin and goes to find Tobias at his property to inform him of where his wife and new child are. Tobias seems to be a concerned husband and comes back to Jeans home with her. It is here that Jean begins to wonder what type of relationship Muirin and Tobias have. Muirin barely speaks English and appears to be extremely tense and distraught around Tobias. Muirin has made it clear to Jean that she doesn’t want to return home with Tobias. Jean manages to convince Tobias that Muirin needs to stay with Jean for a week to recover and learn how to care for a new baby before returning home with him.

This is where the story really begins to develop. This is historical fiction blended with folklore, mystery and fantasy, LGTBQ+ theme along with a love story. The author writes well, I just found the pace of the book to be incredibly slow. It was difficult for me to stay invested in the story for the duration of time it took for me to finish it.

I received an advanced reader copy and am leaving this review voluntarily.

A young midwife comes to the aid of her neighbor’s new, mysterious wife and becomes involved in something far more expansive than she could have anticipated in Rose Sutherland’s A Sweet Sting of Salt.
Out the outskirts of a Nova Scotian village along the sea, Jean is awoken in the middle of a night during a storm by a cry; venturing outside to investigate the origin, Jean is surprised to find a young woman in labor at the edge of the marsh and slowly coaxes her into her home to deliver the baby safely. With a barrier in language making their communication difficult, Jean pieces together that Muirin is the new wife of her neighbor, Tobias Silber. In reuniting the young family Jean begins thinking of a variety of questions and is uneasy with the Muirin’s behavior around Tobias. Though she knows it’d be best to stay out of it, she becomes convinced that there’s something amiss in the Silber marriage and becomes fixated on connecting with, and rescuing, Muirin from the unfortunate existence she imagines in their isolated home. The more details she learns of Tobias and Muirin’s relationship and the friction she witnesses within it the more Jean finds that not only might Muirin be in potential danger but herself as well as she endeavors to do what she thinks is right.
Written as a slowly unfolding retelling of The Selkie Wife, the portrayal of the distinctive characters and their dynamic with each other, as well as the small, repeatedly mentioned details peppered throughout about seals, the sea, and family add emphasis to easily convey the longing for connection, to both others and to the sea, that features strongly in the tale. With most of the story focused on the tension of the dynamic and situation between Jean and the Silbers there were also well-developed side characters, including Laurie, who provided some comic relief in otherwise serious scenarios as well as adding to a subplot that furthers the presentation of queerness and acceptance and explores the role of secrets in relationships. While there are hints related to the lore and existence of selkies and suspicions thereof strewn throughout the narrative, the more expansive elaboration on that aspect of the story was revealed in a rapid dump toward that end that was uneven with the pacing of the otherwise slow build and progression of the narrative that reflected a slower pace of life in the 1800s well. A sense of tension and fear are developed through Jean’s past with Jo obscured by a layer of suppressed secrecy and through Jean’s interactions with Tobias as he means to instill fear in her to warn her away from Muirin, but as with the elaboration on the selkie element of the story, so too do these reach a swift conclusion at a speed that seems too rushed to feel believable.
Overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a debut novel for Rose Sutherland and she did it so very well. This is a sapphic retelling of “The Selkie Wife”. I thought the writing was great, I really enjoyed the plot and how she wrote all the characters. I do highly recommend checking the trigger warnings for this book as some of the content maybe very upsetting to some readers.
As for the love story it is definitely slow burn. I really enjoyed that it took place in the 1830s as it is my preferred historical time period to read in . I enjoy it overall and am eager to get my hands on a physical copy.

Trigger warnings: pregnancy, childbirth, parent death (off-page), suicide, sexual assault, gaslighting, animal death, murder

For those who don't know (which included me until after I finished the book... oops), A SWEET STING OF SALT is a sapphic retelling of "The Selkie's Wife." While I may have gotten more out of the story if I'd gone into it knowing that (and having read the original story), I still feel I got a lot out of this novel and really enjoyed it!

Particularly for a debut novel, Sutherland has an experienced grasp on worldbuilding and characterization. Jean's world was so vivid in my mind--it really brought the story to life. I adored almost all of the characters in this book (with a few obvious exceptions) and thought they were well-developed. Muirin was an adorable, cheerful foil to Jean's loner and hardheaded persona. Of all, though, I think my favorite character was Laurie.

I ultimately gave this novel 4 stars because, while the writing was immersive and I enjoyed the story overall, there were a number of plot points that were predictable, which took away from some of the suspense for me. The beginning of the book was pretty slow as well, and it takes some patience to get into. But once I was into it, I did enjoy it.

I highly recommend this story!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love anything to do with selkies, and this sapphic historical fantasy was so much fun to read! I thought the depiction of the time period was done very well, and quiet, bookish Jean was so relatable. I loved reading about Jean and Muirin's relationship, which grew despite the language barrier and despite Muirin's husband. For a quieter historical fantasy, there were several suspenseful scenes that had me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to the publisher for the arc.

I really wanted to enjoy this but I don’t think the writing style agreed with me after reading so many books in first person. The story is still phenomenal! Just not for me.