The Salt Grows Heavy

[Posted 24 July 2024]

The Salt Grows Heavy is a short grotesque fairytale of a horrific deepwater mermaid and her plague doctor companion. Little else can be elaborated on regarding the plot without spoilers given its length. This is a re-read that somehow managed to hit all the harder upon revisiting, bumping it up from a middling rank in my heart to the favorites shelf. The language is the real star of the show in this novella, though I’m aware it can be a major turn off for some people by virtue of how closely it borders on purple prose. The other novella I’ve read by this author suffered from this prose style (to the point that I gave it one star) whilst this novella vigorously flourished. I found myself highlighting and screenshotting countless passages that tap directly into my precise taste for morbid imagery and wordplay. If you aren’t faint of heart and can enjoy purple prose styles, I highly suggest this novella.