Rebecca Ferrier’s The Salt Bind is a historical fantasy novel, set on the storm-lashed Cornish coast and steeped in folklore, sea magic, and women’s lives on the edge of the sea. It follows Kensa — daughter of a smuggler and with a regularly-complicated relationship with her fair half-sister — who becomes tied to a wise woman and a dangerous sea god. I was attracted to this story for its focus on sea monsters and salt, superstition, the cost of bargaining with the sea and seafolk, which promised to blend gothic fairytale atmosphere with historical fantasy.
After reading it, I’m not sure what I think. It would be wrong to say I hated it, I didn’t. In fact, there are many parts I enjoyed in this book. The sea-village atmosphere and the folklore vibes are well done, and the sister’s own relationship with the sea is very well crafted, in the way it intertwines with the past and the truth about Kensa’s father. The night-swimming sabbath scene is a glorious portrayal of women’s freedom, and it resonated hard now that my own body is changing with age, shifting from maiden to mother with a forebearing touch of crone. Some of the characters are also quite powerful, like the military-trained curate who was afraid he was going to be bored, and I would frankly shag the Father of Storms until he begs for mercy.
What’s the problem, then?
I don’t know.
The novel feels both too long for what happens and too short for what it’s trying to achieve, maybe. Possibly, I would have cut some of the parts that don’t lead up to anything, and added one more storyline or cut deeper with some of the exhisting one.
Mixed feelings.
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