THE SALT GROWS HEAVY is a novella by horror novelist Cassandra Khaw. I first read Khaw in collaboration with Richard Kadrey on THE DEAD TAKE THE A-TRAIN, which I thought was *fine* but nothing really to write home about. I did like the writing enough to try reading some of the authors' solo work, and this book was the first of either I'd read.
It's an, I suppose you could say queer (though only because one character is agender) feminist retelling of the mermaid myth, where the mermaid was captured by her prince and forced to bear his children---which, because they're half-mermaid, hatch and eat the entire kingdom. The book begins after this carnage: the main character bids goodbye to her children and walks away from them.
Along her journey---or maybe at the beginning of her journey (to be honest I forget where she was originally going, but she doesn't get there and it doesn't matter past the first few pages) she meets up with a plague doctor who becomes her traveling companion as well as love. There is not a sex or traditional romance in this book, but the mermaid and her plague doctor do love each other deeply. I did quite like Khaw's portrayal of their relationship throughout the book.
Their journey is cut short when kids chase another, a "pig," through their camp, who they kill. They're not concerned though, because they say it was his turn to be the pig and all will be revealed back at their camp. The two main characters join them and discover that all the children are kept alive, over multiple killings, by three surgeons. It turns out that the plague doctor knows the surgeons, and not in a good way.
The rest of the novella spins out over two nights of carnage, as the plague doctor tries to save the children from the doctors. The mermaid sticks with them through it all, and that's really what the book is about: the way love clings, even when it would be better off running.
I liked the lyrical prose in this book, as well as the richly-imagined world it takes place in. Even though there are few named characters, they're all pretty well-drawn. It's a quick read, too, so there's not much harm in trying it if it sounds interesting to you. I'm definitely going to check out more of Cassandra Khaw's work.
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