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The Salvage
It is 1962, and Marta Khoury, a trail-blazing marine archaeologist, has travelled to Cairnroch, a small island off the east coast of Scotland. An Arctic shipwreck containing the remains of a famous Victorian explorer has been towed back to the island at the behest of his wealthy descendants. Marta's job is to retrieve valuable artefacts from the vessel, deep beneath the freezing Scottish waters. But on her first dive, she becomes convinced she has seen a ghostly figure lurking in the wreckage.
When Marta discovers objects from the vessel have inexplicably disappeared, she must work to uncover their whereabouts before her boss - who is also her ex-husband - discovers their absence. As a series of unsettling and strange occurrences begins to unfold, Marta's work trip turns into a long winter as the worst snowstorms of the century sweep in and trap the islanders, and their ghosts, in an icy wilderness.
When Marta discovers objects from the vessel have inexplicably disappeared, she must work to uncover their whereabouts before her boss - who is also her ex-husband - discovers their absence. As a series of unsettling and strange occurrences begins to unfold, Marta's work trip turns into a long winter as the worst snowstorms of the century sweep in and trap the islanders, and their ghosts, in an icy wilderness.
358 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 7, 2025
81 people are currently reading
16133 people want to read
About the author
Anbara Salam
5 books217 followersAnbara Salam is half-Palestinian and half-Scottish, and grew up in London. She has a PhD in Theology and now lives in Oxford.
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August 30, 2025
The Salvage
by Anbara Salam is a twisting gothic historical fiction novel set on the fictional island of Cairnroch off the east coast of Scotland. Set in 1962 and early 1963, it features Marta Khoury, a marine archaeologist. A Victorian shipwreck, captained by James Purdie from the island, has been dragged from the arctic waters. It holds the remains of the Purdie and the artefacts of his final expedition. Marta has been hired, through the museum she works for, to retrieve his remains and more by the captain’s descendants.
During her first dive, Marta believes she sees a dark figure in the wreck. When the Cuban Missile Crisis and a historically cold and snowy winter strand her on the island, she forms a relationship with Elsie who works at the island’s hotel. When the artefacts disappear and something or someone seems to be following Marta, she and Elsie work to recover the missing items while Marta tries to find out who or what she is seeing.
The novel is very atmospheric, and it was easy to picture the island and the wreck. It’s more literary fiction than thriller or horror. Additionally, the pacing was way too slow, despite some occasional suspense. While threads of grief, relationships, betrayal, and trust are woven into the story, I never connected with Marta. The story does have a twist at the end, but it was a little too easily discerned.
Overall, there is tension and great world-building and atmosphere in the fascinating novel, but I wanted more suspense and danger as well as a faster pace. Those who enjoy literary gothic tales will likely enjoy this novel.
Tin House – Tin House Books and Anbara Salam provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for October 07, 2025.
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My 3.1 rounded to 3 stars review is coming soon.
During her first dive, Marta believes she sees a dark figure in the wreck. When the Cuban Missile Crisis and a historically cold and snowy winter strand her on the island, she forms a relationship with Elsie who works at the island’s hotel. When the artefacts disappear and something or someone seems to be following Marta, she and Elsie work to recover the missing items while Marta tries to find out who or what she is seeing.
The novel is very atmospheric, and it was easy to picture the island and the wreck. It’s more literary fiction than thriller or horror. Additionally, the pacing was way too slow, despite some occasional suspense. While threads of grief, relationships, betrayal, and trust are woven into the story, I never connected with Marta. The story does have a twist at the end, but it was a little too easily discerned.
Overall, there is tension and great world-building and atmosphere in the fascinating novel, but I wanted more suspense and danger as well as a faster pace. Those who enjoy literary gothic tales will likely enjoy this novel.
Tin House – Tin House Books and Anbara Salam provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for October 07, 2025.
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My 3.1 rounded to 3 stars review is coming soon.
September 10, 2025
The Salvage: A Novel by Anbara Salam
3.65 rounded up to 4🔮🔮🔮🔮orbs
Est. Pub. Date: Oct. 7, 2025
1962, Cairnroch
Orbs Prologue: I lay dormant on the ocean floor. Covered in barnacles, my deck remains intact. Algae flourish among the cabins where our crew has disappeared. Yet upon a captain’s chair, the bones of the man exist; a golden ring adorns his finger. Who knew that, after all this time, I, a ship called the HMS Deliverance, could remain intact since 1849? Lying undiscovered for over a century, I sense someone swimming towards me. Light in hand, the diver is inspecting the treasures on my ship. The myths haunt my good name. I welcome this swimmer onto my hull in the hopes that all in Cairnroch know the truth about Auld James, or Captain Purdie to the outsiders.
Marta Khoury has been commissioned to uncover the valuables left onboard the HMS Deliverance. In the frigid cold, Marta dives down to discover numerous relics that can improve the luck and tourism in the immediate area of Cairnroch, an island off the coast of Scotland. Upon arriving in the small island city, she is immediately consumed by a handful of emotions. Why was she doing this? To placate her boss/husband in the hopes of finding museum pieces for Lord Purdie? No, there is more that drives this madness. Dear reader, make no mistake, there is a certain craziness involved in diving in this type of climate. She is indebted to a man from this place. Marta’s mind is seized by guilt, and she remains incapable of forgetting that day when life changed.
After developing several pictures of the bounty upon the sunken ship, Marta dives down once again to retrieve the items, only to be met with despair. Gone, all of it, gone! Who would sabotage this project? This expedition is vital to the resurrection of the economy in Cairnroch.
Fellow readers, I welcome you to the small fishing community where everyone knows everyone.
1962 has proven to be a strange year, as Marta, the outsider, has brought home Auld James. The folks in Cairnroch exude a cult-like following towards Auld James; he is larger than life, the Protector of the island, and a religious exaltation. Why?
1962 also brings a nuclear threat from the Russians. However, this seemingly imminent catastrophe cannot be broadcast by radio due to the bitter weather, rendering everyone out of the loop in foreign affairs.
What we see is a hunkering down, battening down the hatches, and bunker slumbering in case of a nuclear catastrophe. The blistery winter wonderland brings a whole host of downtime and complex problems people must work out to survive. Within this stalemate of time, Anbara Salam, our author, provides the opportunity for plenty of relationships to flourish and also wither. The main bulk of the story revolves around lies, deceit, and how successfully Marta can maneuver in this new social terrain. While there is plenty of whodunit to go around, ultimately, the real success of this adventure is how Salam’s descriptive nature and atmospheric storytelling shed light on a place that few would ever venture.
Orbs Epilogue: The seaweed grips my bent mast, waving goodbye to those who have ventured into the sea's dark currents. The unknown life exists in this realm, one with answers to questions that have remained unsolved for centuries. That may be the attraction to a sunken vessel like me. Float like a bubble, rise to the surface, and thrive among the living. As for myself, I prefer the calm beneath the waves; I favor tranquility and silence.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Tin House Books for the ARC through NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion.
3.65 rounded up to 4🔮🔮🔮🔮orbs
Est. Pub. Date: Oct. 7, 2025
1962, Cairnroch
Orbs Prologue: I lay dormant on the ocean floor. Covered in barnacles, my deck remains intact. Algae flourish among the cabins where our crew has disappeared. Yet upon a captain’s chair, the bones of the man exist; a golden ring adorns his finger. Who knew that, after all this time, I, a ship called the HMS Deliverance, could remain intact since 1849? Lying undiscovered for over a century, I sense someone swimming towards me. Light in hand, the diver is inspecting the treasures on my ship. The myths haunt my good name. I welcome this swimmer onto my hull in the hopes that all in Cairnroch know the truth about Auld James, or Captain Purdie to the outsiders.
Marta Khoury has been commissioned to uncover the valuables left onboard the HMS Deliverance. In the frigid cold, Marta dives down to discover numerous relics that can improve the luck and tourism in the immediate area of Cairnroch, an island off the coast of Scotland. Upon arriving in the small island city, she is immediately consumed by a handful of emotions. Why was she doing this? To placate her boss/husband in the hopes of finding museum pieces for Lord Purdie? No, there is more that drives this madness. Dear reader, make no mistake, there is a certain craziness involved in diving in this type of climate. She is indebted to a man from this place. Marta’s mind is seized by guilt, and she remains incapable of forgetting that day when life changed.
After developing several pictures of the bounty upon the sunken ship, Marta dives down once again to retrieve the items, only to be met with despair. Gone, all of it, gone! Who would sabotage this project? This expedition is vital to the resurrection of the economy in Cairnroch.
Fellow readers, I welcome you to the small fishing community where everyone knows everyone.
1962 has proven to be a strange year, as Marta, the outsider, has brought home Auld James. The folks in Cairnroch exude a cult-like following towards Auld James; he is larger than life, the Protector of the island, and a religious exaltation. Why?
1962 also brings a nuclear threat from the Russians. However, this seemingly imminent catastrophe cannot be broadcast by radio due to the bitter weather, rendering everyone out of the loop in foreign affairs.
What we see is a hunkering down, battening down the hatches, and bunker slumbering in case of a nuclear catastrophe. The blistery winter wonderland brings a whole host of downtime and complex problems people must work out to survive. Within this stalemate of time, Anbara Salam, our author, provides the opportunity for plenty of relationships to flourish and also wither. The main bulk of the story revolves around lies, deceit, and how successfully Marta can maneuver in this new social terrain. While there is plenty of whodunit to go around, ultimately, the real success of this adventure is how Salam’s descriptive nature and atmospheric storytelling shed light on a place that few would ever venture.
Orbs Epilogue: The seaweed grips my bent mast, waving goodbye to those who have ventured into the sea's dark currents. The unknown life exists in this realm, one with answers to questions that have remained unsolved for centuries. That may be the attraction to a sunken vessel like me. Float like a bubble, rise to the surface, and thrive among the living. As for myself, I prefer the calm beneath the waves; I favor tranquility and silence.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Tin House Books for the ARC through NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion.
September 30, 2025
It is 1962, and the HMS Deliverance, recently discovered under the ice in the Arctic, has been towed back home to the waters off the coast of the Scottish island of Cairnroch, where the island residents eagerly await the return of the remains of their esteemed native son Captain “Auld” James Purdie. The last living members of the Purdie family have commissioned a London museum to retrieve the remains of their ancestor, as well as any artefacts that can be displayed in their castle museum, in the hopes of bringing some much needed tourism to the struggling fishing community.
Marta Khoury, a Catholic marine archeologist of Syrian descent, arrives on Cairnroch to face not only the unforgiving cold waters and the guilt from a tragedy in her recent past, but also the sexism and prejudices of the locals. After Marta is confronted by a sinister and shadowy figure in Captain Purdie’s underwater stateroom and several of the ship’s valuable artefacts are stolen, she must race against time and the elements to salvage her career and the future of Cairnroch.
First, I will say that this book is very well written. I was immediately sucked into Marta's story and the setting of the unforgiving and remote island. The backdrop of a world on edge and dealing with the very real fears of possible nuclear catastrophe served to enhance the tension. The descriptions of the first two underwater explorations of the shipwreck and some heavily Pagan traditions on the island set up a creepy, gothic atmosphere. Unfortunately, as the blizzard conditions descended, the potential horror dissipated and the story became a protracted scavenger hunt around the island that, while physically challenging, seemed too easily won. Marta is an unpleasant, not just unlikeable, main character who elicits no sympathy from the reader despite her difficult circumstances. I could have also done without the romantic subplot and some of the plot twists at the end, which seemed to make the entirety of the rest of the book kind of pointless.
Ultimately, after a promising start, The Salvage left me cold. I would absolutely read future work by the author, but I think a lot of readers who go into this expecting horror are going to end up disappointed as well.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tin House Books for a digital advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. The Salvage will be published on October 7, 2025.
Marta Khoury, a Catholic marine archeologist of Syrian descent, arrives on Cairnroch to face not only the unforgiving cold waters and the guilt from a tragedy in her recent past, but also the sexism and prejudices of the locals. After Marta is confronted by a sinister and shadowy figure in Captain Purdie’s underwater stateroom and several of the ship’s valuable artefacts are stolen, she must race against time and the elements to salvage her career and the future of Cairnroch.
First, I will say that this book is very well written. I was immediately sucked into Marta's story and the setting of the unforgiving and remote island. The backdrop of a world on edge and dealing with the very real fears of possible nuclear catastrophe served to enhance the tension. The descriptions of the first two underwater explorations of the shipwreck and some heavily Pagan traditions on the island set up a creepy, gothic atmosphere. Unfortunately, as the blizzard conditions descended, the potential horror dissipated and the story became a protracted scavenger hunt around the island that, while physically challenging, seemed too easily won. Marta is an unpleasant, not just unlikeable, main character who elicits no sympathy from the reader despite her difficult circumstances. I could have also done without the romantic subplot and some of the plot twists at the end, which seemed to make the entirety of the rest of the book kind of pointless.
Ultimately, after a promising start, The Salvage left me cold. I would absolutely read future work by the author, but I think a lot of readers who go into this expecting horror are going to end up disappointed as well.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tin House Books for a digital advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. The Salvage will be published on October 7, 2025.
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December 6, 2025One of LitHub's 100 Notable Small Press Books for 2025!
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: A twisting, gothic literary thriller sure to delight fans of Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield, The Wonder by Emma Donaghue, and The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters.
It is 1962, and Marta Khoury, a trailblazing marine archaeologist, has been called to Cairnroch, a small island off the east coast of Scotland. A Victorian shipwreck, dragged from arctic waters, holds the remains of a celebrated explorer and the treasures of his final expedition. But on her first dive down to the ship, Marta becomes convinced she has seen a dark figure lurking amid the wreckage.
When the Cuban Missile Crisis and the deep chill of a record-breaking winter keeps Marta stranded on Cairnroch, she forms a relationship with Elsie, a local woman working in the island’s only hotel. When the ship's artefacts inexplicably disappear, Marta and Elsie have to brave the freezing conditions to search for the missing objects before anyone else catches on. As something eerie seems to follow her at every step, Marta must confront if the haunting is a figment of her imagination, the repercussions from a terrible mistake from her past, or if something more sinister is at play that will trap her and everyone on the island—and their secrets—in an icy wilderness.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Sapphic gothic ghost story set in the icy winter waters of the North Sea off Scotland? Meat and drink! Get in my eyeholes!
Marta, a woman in the dangerous business of commercial salvage diving in 1962, is a rarity. It's her husband who runs things, and maybe it's just me but seems to me he's not averse to taking on jobs that put Marta in very significant danger. As the story unfolds, there are secrets in this marriage that, well, that cast doubts....
She's evidently, however, still down with this. Not only does her narrative voice convey very significant pleasure in the underwater world, she's at her sharpest while observing the wreck off Cairnroch. The eerie shadow? That's not an object, that's a being and no being not suited up like her belongs down there. Anyone would get the hell away as fast as possible!
Returning to the surface, badly shaken but with her inventory of the salvage to be collected, there occur things to prevent her from going down to begin salvage right away. On the return trip, she discovers there are very significant items missing...she inventoried them, now they're not there. (Listing them would be spoilery, so no on that.) What's happened? It's not like deep salvage diving is something just anyone can do, nor is it obvious how the heck the stuff was removed, or where it could've gone.
It makes the cold reception of the (quite Calvinist) Cairnroch people more pronounced...the treasure belonged to a very revered local hero, whose family has commissioned the recovery of material to fill a museum on the island. The extreme cold of that winter, the greatly heated up Cold War (this was the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis), and the weird behavior of the islanders towards her make Marta...uneasy...plus, after the artifacts she was to salvage got disappeared, things got no better. Worse, in fact as now she can't shake the sense of being followed...since the Presence on the wreck gave her a scare.
With all the troubles piling up, Marta needs backup. Her husband isn't there, wouldn't be likely to help if he was...he's still angry over some stuff...though he is still her boss. Anyway a local will be more help because things are weird in this place she's isolated inside by weather, world events, and the job she still needs to pull off in order to get paid.
Enter Elsie. She's so local she works at Cairnroch's only hotel. She and Marta are...eyeing each other up...so maybe she will act as Marta's go-between to see what the hell's happening here. And on this super religious rock, Elsie's probably never had a better opportunity for a hook-up. And I do not think anyone on the island's at all fooled by their sneakin' ways. It's another layer of Other in a world obsessed, in that terrible, cruel Calvinist way, with Us-v-Them. I was pretty unconvinced by the way the "special friendship" developed considering Marta's dramatically obvious Otherness and Elsie's being One of Us to the islanders.
The resolution to the different situations arrives as one would hope it would, arising from the events Author Salam's created; but honestly it was waaay later than it would ideally have been. Marta and Elsie aren't any closer at the end than is decorous. It felt to me that, for three-quarters of the book, I was hoping Marta's husband would show up and stir the pot, or something equally dramatic.
This is not a dramatic book. It's all vibes. Really, really good vibes...I put my cardigan on half a dozen times despite it being seventy degrees in here...but short on the stuff of drama. Fights? Not even verbal ones. Hauntings? Self-inflicted ones galore. All very interesting to me. Not terribly exciting.
As someone who appreciates a narrator who isn't seeing what's really happening but instead what her shadows let her see, I was fine with this. Marta, Syrian/Scot like the author is, is a woman out of every place she's ever been put. Check. Marta's really sure she Knows the Score, despite not seeing the hoop half the time. Check. Marta's never let her defenses down, not for anyone; too risky. Check. The list goes on.
Reading diary entries is a very gothic way to build suspense. I myownself don't think it works in favor of low-conflict, high vibes stories so that seems like a miss to me. It would be a five-star read as an only-vibes novella; it only gets to four stars as a heavy-vibes gothic eerie haunted-house novel, with too little (and too incredibly uncritically unexamined) sapphic stuff to really get past the gate into the churchyard.
So I can't recommend it unreservedly but can definitely say there's a pleasurable red here for a vibes reader seeking wintertime chills; anyone who likes underwater scenes is going to purr happily, as they're some of the most effective writing in the story; and those in love with a ghost story for Yule.
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: A twisting, gothic literary thriller sure to delight fans of Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield, The Wonder by Emma Donaghue, and The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters.
It is 1962, and Marta Khoury, a trailblazing marine archaeologist, has been called to Cairnroch, a small island off the east coast of Scotland. A Victorian shipwreck, dragged from arctic waters, holds the remains of a celebrated explorer and the treasures of his final expedition. But on her first dive down to the ship, Marta becomes convinced she has seen a dark figure lurking amid the wreckage.
When the Cuban Missile Crisis and the deep chill of a record-breaking winter keeps Marta stranded on Cairnroch, she forms a relationship with Elsie, a local woman working in the island’s only hotel. When the ship's artefacts inexplicably disappear, Marta and Elsie have to brave the freezing conditions to search for the missing objects before anyone else catches on. As something eerie seems to follow her at every step, Marta must confront if the haunting is a figment of her imagination, the repercussions from a terrible mistake from her past, or if something more sinister is at play that will trap her and everyone on the island—and their secrets—in an icy wilderness.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Sapphic gothic ghost story set in the icy winter waters of the North Sea off Scotland? Meat and drink! Get in my eyeholes!
Marta, a woman in the dangerous business of commercial salvage diving in 1962, is a rarity. It's her husband who runs things, and maybe it's just me but seems to me he's not averse to taking on jobs that put Marta in very significant danger. As the story unfolds, there are secrets in this marriage that, well, that cast doubts....
She's evidently, however, still down with this. Not only does her narrative voice convey very significant pleasure in the underwater world, she's at her sharpest while observing the wreck off Cairnroch. The eerie shadow? That's not an object, that's a being and no being not suited up like her belongs down there. Anyone would get the hell away as fast as possible!
Returning to the surface, badly shaken but with her inventory of the salvage to be collected, there occur things to prevent her from going down to begin salvage right away. On the return trip, she discovers there are very significant items missing...she inventoried them, now they're not there. (Listing them would be spoilery, so no on that.) What's happened? It's not like deep salvage diving is something just anyone can do, nor is it obvious how the heck the stuff was removed, or where it could've gone.
It makes the cold reception of the (quite Calvinist) Cairnroch people more pronounced...the treasure belonged to a very revered local hero, whose family has commissioned the recovery of material to fill a museum on the island. The extreme cold of that winter, the greatly heated up Cold War (this was the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis), and the weird behavior of the islanders towards her make Marta...uneasy...plus, after the artifacts she was to salvage got disappeared, things got no better. Worse, in fact as now she can't shake the sense of being followed...since the Presence on the wreck gave her a scare.
With all the troubles piling up, Marta needs backup. Her husband isn't there, wouldn't be likely to help if he was...he's still angry over some stuff...though he is still her boss. Anyway a local will be more help because things are weird in this place she's isolated inside by weather, world events, and the job she still needs to pull off in order to get paid.
Enter Elsie. She's so local she works at Cairnroch's only hotel. She and Marta are...eyeing each other up...so maybe she will act as Marta's go-between to see what the hell's happening here. And on this super religious rock, Elsie's probably never had a better opportunity for a hook-up. And I do not think anyone on the island's at all fooled by their sneakin' ways. It's another layer of Other in a world obsessed, in that terrible, cruel Calvinist way, with Us-v-Them. I was pretty unconvinced by the way the "special friendship" developed considering Marta's dramatically obvious Otherness and Elsie's being One of Us to the islanders.
The resolution to the different situations arrives as one would hope it would, arising from the events Author Salam's created; but honestly it was waaay later than it would ideally have been. Marta and Elsie aren't any closer at the end than is decorous. It felt to me that, for three-quarters of the book, I was hoping Marta's husband would show up and stir the pot, or something equally dramatic.
This is not a dramatic book. It's all vibes. Really, really good vibes...I put my cardigan on half a dozen times despite it being seventy degrees in here...but short on the stuff of drama. Fights? Not even verbal ones. Hauntings? Self-inflicted ones galore. All very interesting to me. Not terribly exciting.
As someone who appreciates a narrator who isn't seeing what's really happening but instead what her shadows let her see, I was fine with this. Marta, Syrian/Scot like the author is, is a woman out of every place she's ever been put. Check. Marta's really sure she Knows the Score, despite not seeing the hoop half the time. Check. Marta's never let her defenses down, not for anyone; too risky. Check. The list goes on.
Reading diary entries is a very gothic way to build suspense. I myownself don't think it works in favor of low-conflict, high vibes stories so that seems like a miss to me. It would be a five-star read as an only-vibes novella; it only gets to four stars as a heavy-vibes gothic eerie haunted-house novel, with too little (and too incredibly uncritically unexamined) sapphic stuff to really get past the gate into the churchyard.
So I can't recommend it unreservedly but can definitely say there's a pleasurable red here for a vibes reader seeking wintertime chills; anyone who likes underwater scenes is going to purr happily, as they're some of the most effective writing in the story; and those in love with a ghost story for Yule.
June 17, 2025
for anyone out there who’s like me, AKA a fan of the niche subgenre of “there’s Something in the water, and these sapphics have to deal with it” horror (think into the drowning deep, our wives under the sea, etc.), do i have a rec for you! i would also recommend this to fans of mike flanagan’s midnight mass – the island itself actually reminded me a lot of the setting of the show. in particular, the attitude of its population of insular locals toward outsiders – especially those outsiders who aren’t worthy of being saved, as opposed to the “elected” locals.
marta khoury, a marine archaeologist in 1960s scotland, is sent to the island of cairnroch to help retrieve items from a victorian shipwreck. when a mysterious figure starts appearing as certain items disappear in turn, she’s forced to deal with the ramifications of her career – and her survival – being put at risk. i love to be recreationally creeped out, and this book certainly delivered. the ocean is inherently scary, in my opinion, and i say this as someone who loves to take a dip when i go to the beach. but you certainly won’t catch me going out past where my feet can reach the bottom, and what happens on this island is a fantastic example of why.
while marta and elsie (a local & her love interest) search for the items and an explanation for the mysterious goings-on, i felt every moment of their dread as thoroughly as the creep of ice down my spine. i encourage everyone to put themselves through the same this fall – this read will be perfect for spooky season (naturally) and all through the winter (if you really want to immerse yourself in marta’s experiences). you won’t regret it!
thank you to netgalley & the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
marta khoury, a marine archaeologist in 1960s scotland, is sent to the island of cairnroch to help retrieve items from a victorian shipwreck. when a mysterious figure starts appearing as certain items disappear in turn, she’s forced to deal with the ramifications of her career – and her survival – being put at risk. i love to be recreationally creeped out, and this book certainly delivered. the ocean is inherently scary, in my opinion, and i say this as someone who loves to take a dip when i go to the beach. but you certainly won’t catch me going out past where my feet can reach the bottom, and what happens on this island is a fantastic example of why.
while marta and elsie (a local & her love interest) search for the items and an explanation for the mysterious goings-on, i felt every moment of their dread as thoroughly as the creep of ice down my spine. i encourage everyone to put themselves through the same this fall – this read will be perfect for spooky season (naturally) and all through the winter (if you really want to immerse yourself in marta’s experiences). you won’t regret it!
thank you to netgalley & the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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December 19, 2025firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!
unfortunately dnf @15% — i was just not interested in this book at this moment in time, and maybe i will return to it.
i also listened to the audio, and i did enjoy the narrator!
unfortunately dnf @15% — i was just not interested in this book at this moment in time, and maybe i will return to it.
i also listened to the audio, and i did enjoy the narrator!
December 12, 2025
My favourite part of this book was how information was slowly revealed, so I recommend going into this without knowing much about it. If you’re in the mood for a claustrophobic sapphic gothic novel set on a small, frozen-over island, pick this one up and skip over my description.
But if you want more information, check out my full review at the Lesbrary.
But if you want more information, check out my full review at the Lesbrary.
September 9, 2025
Read The Salvage if you like wintery vibes, gothic fiction, queer female main characters, and a healthy dose of social commentary.
A shipwreck is towed from Arctic waters to the coast off a remote Scottish Island, and Marta Khoury is the diver tasked with recovering a celebrated explorer’s remains and treasures. Some of his belongings go missing, which puts Marta’s job at risk. Meanwhile the island seems to be haunted, the Cold War and the terrible winter are both making everyone strange and paranoid, and Marta has her own secret past that causes her to start blaming herself for basically everything that goes wrong. The book turns into a mystery, a treasure hunt, and a very messy romance, but it’s also a critique of religion, a deep dive of a very flawed character, and an exploration into the effects of isolation.
Everything about the book feels very gothic, but the tropes never get tired or derivative. Most gothic horror leans on mansions, castles, graveyards, churches, and mysterious manuscripts that need to be decoded in order to understand the past. All those things do appear in this story, but the shipwreck adds a fantastic layer to the aesthetic. The underwater scenes gave me such a sense of cosmic dread, and I wish Marta dove down there more than a handful of times, because the imagery is breathtaking. The rest of the imagery is also consistently strong, even in minor scenes. I’ll never forget the Virgin Mary statue with a moldy blindfold, the burning lighthouse that crumbles into the sea, the icicles growing inside the hotel, or the skeleton of Captain Purdie. The dark aesthetic is exquisitely layered with critiques of wealth, religion, racism, and colonialism. Even if the themes don’t reveal anything new, I found myself happy to revisit them in such an evocative setting.
In short the atmosphere is incredible, and Salam manages to capture it with extremely efficient prose. Her descriptions are so precise, so it takes only one detail to make me feel everything. Nearly every chapter ends with some eerie new detail: ghostly handprints appearing on the window, strange photographs that capture people who shouldn’t be there, mysterious figures standing in the snow, and more. Though some of these cliffhangers turn out to be kind of cheap in how they get immediately resolved on the next page, they still contribute to the overall tension. Some readers may find it gimmicky, and parts of the book might be best read in small doses (even though it is a thriller meant to be paced quickly). For me, however, I cared more about how Marta would react to these literary jump scares than I did about whether the potentially supernatural events would be easily explained or turn out to bring us closer to solving the book’s central questions. As long as Marta continued to respond in interesting ways, it didn’t bother me that some tension gets resolved a little too easily.
And goodness is Marta interesting. She rails against the islanders’ isolation and rigid Calvinist worldview—their obsession with being “chosen” by God, their belief that wealth is a sign that you’re going to heaven, their willingness to follow wealthy people into acts of cruelty, their deep fear of being perceived as condemned, and the shame they carry if they think they aren’t going to reap eternal reward after death. There are a lot of social facades and niceties that Marta doesn’t understand, and she shouldn’t be forced to. At the same time, Marta shares in some of this problematic and contradictory worldview herself, carrying shame and guilt from her past, some of it imparted onto her by the social conditions that she finds normal. She thinks she deserves to be cursed and mistreated. She constantly isolates herself. She literally seems most at home underwater, where she is far removed from society. Even as she criticizes the way of life on the island, she doesn’t realize it’s just an overexaggeration of things she should actually find rather familiar. Cairnroch Island is isolated and frozen in time (and in snow), but Marta too is trapped in her own history.
The way the past and present weave together in the novel is quite compelling. The shipwreck is very well preserved, an artifact of another century, but Marta’s excavation disturbs it, almost as though she’s haunting the wreck just as much as it haunts her. The islanders believe the captain’s spirit is roaming around, but Marta herself is a bit like a ghost. She’s a Catholic Syrian bisexual female diver in the sixties surrounded by Calvinists. They ignore her when they can, get rid of her when they can’t, and generally feel a little unsettled by her lack of traditionalism. Social change is on the verge of occurring in the world, but it hasn’t happened yet, so in a way, she’s a ghost from the future, while the ship’s captain is one from the past.
Other characters are compelling too. There’s Elsie, whose competence serves as a good counterbalance to Marta’s volatility. There’s Sophie, who I honestly wish we saw more of, because her understanding of Marta is so sharp. There’s Lord and Lady Purdie, whose mostly awful behavior to people they see as beneath them is kind of darkly hilarious. There’s the island itself, which is such a strong setting that it feels like its own character. I was absolutely enamored with everyone and everything. Some threads remain loose at the end. Some problems are never fully confronted. But it’s fine. I was just happy to be along for the ride for as long as it lasted. The novel has its flaws, but overall, it’s enthralling, immersive, gripping, and clever.
~Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Digital ARC. All opinions are my own.~
A shipwreck is towed from Arctic waters to the coast off a remote Scottish Island, and Marta Khoury is the diver tasked with recovering a celebrated explorer’s remains and treasures. Some of his belongings go missing, which puts Marta’s job at risk. Meanwhile the island seems to be haunted, the Cold War and the terrible winter are both making everyone strange and paranoid, and Marta has her own secret past that causes her to start blaming herself for basically everything that goes wrong. The book turns into a mystery, a treasure hunt, and a very messy romance, but it’s also a critique of religion, a deep dive of a very flawed character, and an exploration into the effects of isolation.
Everything about the book feels very gothic, but the tropes never get tired or derivative. Most gothic horror leans on mansions, castles, graveyards, churches, and mysterious manuscripts that need to be decoded in order to understand the past. All those things do appear in this story, but the shipwreck adds a fantastic layer to the aesthetic. The underwater scenes gave me such a sense of cosmic dread, and I wish Marta dove down there more than a handful of times, because the imagery is breathtaking. The rest of the imagery is also consistently strong, even in minor scenes. I’ll never forget the Virgin Mary statue with a moldy blindfold, the burning lighthouse that crumbles into the sea, the icicles growing inside the hotel, or the skeleton of Captain Purdie. The dark aesthetic is exquisitely layered with critiques of wealth, religion, racism, and colonialism. Even if the themes don’t reveal anything new, I found myself happy to revisit them in such an evocative setting.
In short the atmosphere is incredible, and Salam manages to capture it with extremely efficient prose. Her descriptions are so precise, so it takes only one detail to make me feel everything. Nearly every chapter ends with some eerie new detail: ghostly handprints appearing on the window, strange photographs that capture people who shouldn’t be there, mysterious figures standing in the snow, and more. Though some of these cliffhangers turn out to be kind of cheap in how they get immediately resolved on the next page, they still contribute to the overall tension. Some readers may find it gimmicky, and parts of the book might be best read in small doses (even though it is a thriller meant to be paced quickly). For me, however, I cared more about how Marta would react to these literary jump scares than I did about whether the potentially supernatural events would be easily explained or turn out to bring us closer to solving the book’s central questions. As long as Marta continued to respond in interesting ways, it didn’t bother me that some tension gets resolved a little too easily.
And goodness is Marta interesting. She rails against the islanders’ isolation and rigid Calvinist worldview—their obsession with being “chosen” by God, their belief that wealth is a sign that you’re going to heaven, their willingness to follow wealthy people into acts of cruelty, their deep fear of being perceived as condemned, and the shame they carry if they think they aren’t going to reap eternal reward after death. There are a lot of social facades and niceties that Marta doesn’t understand, and she shouldn’t be forced to. At the same time, Marta shares in some of this problematic and contradictory worldview herself, carrying shame and guilt from her past, some of it imparted onto her by the social conditions that she finds normal. She thinks she deserves to be cursed and mistreated. She constantly isolates herself. She literally seems most at home underwater, where she is far removed from society. Even as she criticizes the way of life on the island, she doesn’t realize it’s just an overexaggeration of things she should actually find rather familiar. Cairnroch Island is isolated and frozen in time (and in snow), but Marta too is trapped in her own history.
The way the past and present weave together in the novel is quite compelling. The shipwreck is very well preserved, an artifact of another century, but Marta’s excavation disturbs it, almost as though she’s haunting the wreck just as much as it haunts her. The islanders believe the captain’s spirit is roaming around, but Marta herself is a bit like a ghost. She’s a Catholic Syrian bisexual female diver in the sixties surrounded by Calvinists. They ignore her when they can, get rid of her when they can’t, and generally feel a little unsettled by her lack of traditionalism. Social change is on the verge of occurring in the world, but it hasn’t happened yet, so in a way, she’s a ghost from the future, while the ship’s captain is one from the past.
Other characters are compelling too. There’s Elsie, whose competence serves as a good counterbalance to Marta’s volatility. There’s Sophie, who I honestly wish we saw more of, because her understanding of Marta is so sharp. There’s Lord and Lady Purdie, whose mostly awful behavior to people they see as beneath them is kind of darkly hilarious. There’s the island itself, which is such a strong setting that it feels like its own character. I was absolutely enamored with everyone and everything. Some threads remain loose at the end. Some problems are never fully confronted. But it’s fine. I was just happy to be along for the ride for as long as it lasted. The novel has its flaws, but overall, it’s enthralling, immersive, gripping, and clever.
~Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Digital ARC. All opinions are my own.~
September 26, 2025
3.5 ⭐ rounded down! thank you to tin house books, anbara salam and netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!
the salvage is a book that really left me reeling, in more ways than one and probably for all the reasons i didn't expect when i first picked it up. the atmosphere hits you from the very first page, sucking you into a story that fits its horror theme in all the unexpected places. it's not just the sea or the wreck or truly any of the elements that a reader might expect to be scary, but people and judgment and grief and isolation that truly are the monsters in the corner of your eye for this one.
i very much enjoyed the writing, its directness at times and absolute vagueness at others, as we follow marta's inner monologue through some pretty hefty emotions. it may be paradoxical, but her anxiety about pretty much anything, especially her job, was what i liked the most, it kept me barely breathing as her thought pattern spiraled before being brusquely picked up - just how anxiety really is sometimes, a missed step on the last flight of stairs before you right yourself out and keep walking, cause you have to. the characters are also definitely a strong element of this story, both marta and elsie (my shaylaas!) are so human and real and imperfect, and all the other elements of the town gave it life in such a refreshing, realistic way, not just background dressing for the protagonist but actual moving parts of one whole. and the ending? absolutely no spoilers but personally i had to take a lap or two around my coffee table, just saying.
what i didn't end up liking all that much, which inferred my rating ultimately, was the mix of genres this book consists of. it's horror but not really, and liftic but not really, and historical fiction but not really, which creates a kind of hodge-podge of a reading experience that doesn't follow a singular - or two, tops - narrative thread but tries to mix them all together without fully developing just one, and by the second half of the book it does get a little exhausting trying to follow them all.
overall, i found it a fascinating read, especially if you're interested in the dynamics of the time period (early 60s) in scotland, especially the focus on the calvinist townspeople and the christian marta i found very interesting, and one that will keep you a little bit on the edge of your seat but for all the unexptected reasons.
the salvage is a book that really left me reeling, in more ways than one and probably for all the reasons i didn't expect when i first picked it up. the atmosphere hits you from the very first page, sucking you into a story that fits its horror theme in all the unexpected places. it's not just the sea or the wreck or truly any of the elements that a reader might expect to be scary, but people and judgment and grief and isolation that truly are the monsters in the corner of your eye for this one.
i very much enjoyed the writing, its directness at times and absolute vagueness at others, as we follow marta's inner monologue through some pretty hefty emotions. it may be paradoxical, but her anxiety about pretty much anything, especially her job, was what i liked the most, it kept me barely breathing as her thought pattern spiraled before being brusquely picked up - just how anxiety really is sometimes, a missed step on the last flight of stairs before you right yourself out and keep walking, cause you have to. the characters are also definitely a strong element of this story, both marta and elsie (my shaylaas!) are so human and real and imperfect, and all the other elements of the town gave it life in such a refreshing, realistic way, not just background dressing for the protagonist but actual moving parts of one whole. and the ending? absolutely no spoilers but personally i had to take a lap or two around my coffee table, just saying.
what i didn't end up liking all that much, which inferred my rating ultimately, was the mix of genres this book consists of. it's horror but not really, and liftic but not really, and historical fiction but not really, which creates a kind of hodge-podge of a reading experience that doesn't follow a singular - or two, tops - narrative thread but tries to mix them all together without fully developing just one, and by the second half of the book it does get a little exhausting trying to follow them all.
overall, i found it a fascinating read, especially if you're interested in the dynamics of the time period (early 60s) in scotland, especially the focus on the calvinist townspeople and the christian marta i found very interesting, and one that will keep you a little bit on the edge of your seat but for all the unexptected reasons.
August 24, 2025
In keeping with my recent obsession with watery fiction—first The Burial Tide by Neil Sharpson and Reef Mind by Hazel Zorn, then The Terror TV series and From the Wreck by Jane Rawson, and now 1899—The Salvage by Anbara Salam continues to scratch that itch something fierce.
Marta is a recovery diver, summoned to the remote coastal island of Cairnroch by the Purdie family after they’ve had an ancestral Victorian shipwreck hauled from the Arctic Ocean to their quiet corner of the world. As an outsider, Marta is met with frosty indifference from the locals. Her goal is simple: retrieve the captain’s remains and any valuables still clinging to the wreck, then get out.
But on her first dive, while cataloging the ship’s submerged chambers, she glimpses a dark figure hunched in a corner, watching her. Panicked, she flees to the surface.
When she returns to the depths, ready to salvage the items, she finds many of them missing. Unwilling to admit to a possible theft on her watch, Marta bargains for more time and enlists Elsie—a hotel worker she’s quite drawn to—to help uncover who stole the artifacts and reclaim them before the next ferry arrives.
All the while, that shadow seems to follow her across the island, forcing Marta to confront a past she’s tried desperately to bury. And as the mystery deepens, so does her connection with Elsie.
This is a slow-burning, atmospheric, sapphic horror story—less jump scares, more creeping dread and quiet unease. It lingers like sea mist and leaves you chilled.
Marta is a recovery diver, summoned to the remote coastal island of Cairnroch by the Purdie family after they’ve had an ancestral Victorian shipwreck hauled from the Arctic Ocean to their quiet corner of the world. As an outsider, Marta is met with frosty indifference from the locals. Her goal is simple: retrieve the captain’s remains and any valuables still clinging to the wreck, then get out.
But on her first dive, while cataloging the ship’s submerged chambers, she glimpses a dark figure hunched in a corner, watching her. Panicked, she flees to the surface.
When she returns to the depths, ready to salvage the items, she finds many of them missing. Unwilling to admit to a possible theft on her watch, Marta bargains for more time and enlists Elsie—a hotel worker she’s quite drawn to—to help uncover who stole the artifacts and reclaim them before the next ferry arrives.
All the while, that shadow seems to follow her across the island, forcing Marta to confront a past she’s tried desperately to bury. And as the mystery deepens, so does her connection with Elsie.
This is a slow-burning, atmospheric, sapphic horror story—less jump scares, more creeping dread and quiet unease. It lingers like sea mist and leaves you chilled.
December 28, 2025
A Wreckage of Secrets
The setting is a remote Scottish island, entirely engulfed by the most severe weather in decades. Its populace is a tight knit, deeply religious community, inherently wary of outsiders. However, a potential shift in fortune is on the horizon: the salvage of the sunken ship of their late, cherished Captain James Purdie. This development promises to revitalize the island's economy by bringing back much-needed tourist revenue.
It is 1962, and the marine archaeologist who arrives on the island, Marta Khoury, is a woman—a shocking fact to many. Marta is under immense pressure to succeed in this assignment excavating the shipwreck; her boss is also her soon-to-be ex-husband, and he appears determined to find a reason to terminate her employment. Her first dive is incredibly promising: she photographs the captain’s intact skeleton and numerous well-preserved personal effects. These items, along with his Captain's log, are destined for display in the Purdie family museum. However, the discovery is disturbed by an unnerving sight: Marta observes a shadowy, eerie figure crouching in the corner of the captain’s quarters.
Initially, the story sets up as a classic ghost tale, complete with eerie atmosphere. When a second dive reveals the artifacts have been looted. Marta, stunned, instantly adopts a defensive posture, making the first of many questionable decisions by opting to cover up the heist to buy herself time. It is difficult to root for her, even with the deck stacked against her, because she constantly lies, even to her new romantic partner, Elsie. As Marta blindly accuses everyone she suspects of the robbery, the reader is left exasperated.
Things on the island become more bizarre. In addition to the brutal winter conditions, the terror of the Cuban Missile Crisis reaches this shore. When an alarm sounds, the extreme religious convictions of the islanders fail to prevent them from refusing Marta shelter, thereby deliberately leaving the outsider exposed.
“Only the elect are protected.” “We can’t pollute ourselves with reprobates.” “You have spent your years satisfying your desire. You have fattened yourself for the day of slaughter…”
Elsie emerges from the shelter, courageously takes Marta's hand, and escorts her to the perceived safety of a cellar. Despite these efforts, Marta declines to confide in her, withholding information regarding her current marriage, her experiences with apparently supernatural phenomena, and the persistent sensation of being tormented by the ghost of a friend for whose death she holds herself responsible.
"The Salvage" is distinguished primarily by its intense atmosphere. The prevailing mood of claustrophobia deepens as the inhabitants' behavior grows increasingly bizarre. Instances of sexual activity rise, an elderly woman is discovered walking naked outdoors, more people admit to witnessing mysterious apparitions, and handprints appear on the windows—all while the shadowy figure continues to lurk.
The mystery's momentum is hampered by its uneven pacing; the slow, piecemeal reveal of information ultimately dilutes the narrative's drive. Furthermore, the protagonist, Marta, is difficult to support. Even as her secrets are exposed, her underlying motivations appear largely self-centered, which makes it hard to sympathize with her actions.
A mixed bag, to be sure. Elsie deserves better.
Thank you to Tin House Books and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #TheSalvage #NetGalley
The setting is a remote Scottish island, entirely engulfed by the most severe weather in decades. Its populace is a tight knit, deeply religious community, inherently wary of outsiders. However, a potential shift in fortune is on the horizon: the salvage of the sunken ship of their late, cherished Captain James Purdie. This development promises to revitalize the island's economy by bringing back much-needed tourist revenue.
It is 1962, and the marine archaeologist who arrives on the island, Marta Khoury, is a woman—a shocking fact to many. Marta is under immense pressure to succeed in this assignment excavating the shipwreck; her boss is also her soon-to-be ex-husband, and he appears determined to find a reason to terminate her employment. Her first dive is incredibly promising: she photographs the captain’s intact skeleton and numerous well-preserved personal effects. These items, along with his Captain's log, are destined for display in the Purdie family museum. However, the discovery is disturbed by an unnerving sight: Marta observes a shadowy, eerie figure crouching in the corner of the captain’s quarters.
Initially, the story sets up as a classic ghost tale, complete with eerie atmosphere. When a second dive reveals the artifacts have been looted. Marta, stunned, instantly adopts a defensive posture, making the first of many questionable decisions by opting to cover up the heist to buy herself time. It is difficult to root for her, even with the deck stacked against her, because she constantly lies, even to her new romantic partner, Elsie. As Marta blindly accuses everyone she suspects of the robbery, the reader is left exasperated.
Things on the island become more bizarre. In addition to the brutal winter conditions, the terror of the Cuban Missile Crisis reaches this shore. When an alarm sounds, the extreme religious convictions of the islanders fail to prevent them from refusing Marta shelter, thereby deliberately leaving the outsider exposed.
“Only the elect are protected.” “We can’t pollute ourselves with reprobates.” “You have spent your years satisfying your desire. You have fattened yourself for the day of slaughter…”
Elsie emerges from the shelter, courageously takes Marta's hand, and escorts her to the perceived safety of a cellar. Despite these efforts, Marta declines to confide in her, withholding information regarding her current marriage, her experiences with apparently supernatural phenomena, and the persistent sensation of being tormented by the ghost of a friend for whose death she holds herself responsible.
"The Salvage" is distinguished primarily by its intense atmosphere. The prevailing mood of claustrophobia deepens as the inhabitants' behavior grows increasingly bizarre. Instances of sexual activity rise, an elderly woman is discovered walking naked outdoors, more people admit to witnessing mysterious apparitions, and handprints appear on the windows—all while the shadowy figure continues to lurk.
The mystery's momentum is hampered by its uneven pacing; the slow, piecemeal reveal of information ultimately dilutes the narrative's drive. Furthermore, the protagonist, Marta, is difficult to support. Even as her secrets are exposed, her underlying motivations appear largely self-centered, which makes it hard to sympathize with her actions.
A mixed bag, to be sure. Elsie deserves better.
Thank you to Tin House Books and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #TheSalvage #NetGalley
October 7, 2025
On my blog.
Rep: Syrian bi mc, sapphic li, Black side character
Galley provided by publisher
The Salvage is the third of Anbara Salam’s books that I’ve read and, although still a 3-star read and a book I liked reading, the one that I have to admit to liking the least. Perhaps this is a mood thing and, if so, there’s nothing much to say in this review. Let’s see.
The story follows a marine archaeologist in the 1960s who, desperate to revive her career following some, let’s say ill-advised, decisions, travels to a remote island north of Scotland to retrieve from the depths of the sea, the bones of a man who is revered as almost saintly to the people of Cairnroch. Obviously, there are secrets to be discovered there, but then objects from the wreck start to go missing and Marta starts to suspect things are not as they seem.
As with Salam’s other books, this one is a slow-burner. It wasn’t until probably about halfway, if not a little further, that the mystery started to really kick in. That was, mostly, fine I think because Salam is so good at writing atmosphere. You could really feel the claustrophobic island around Marta, the unfriendliness (at times) of the islanders, and Marta’s panic as it builds. It was a book that really transported you to its location and that was probably the best thing about it.
However, when I say mostly fine what I mean is that it starts to feel a wee bit repetitive after a while. The book was 450 pages and, I get it, Marta thinks she’s fucked up irreparably and she’ll never have a career again. It’s understandable she’s panicked for a lot of the first half of the book. It’s just, she ends up being rather self-centred about things, somewhat self-pitying even, and okay so this was probably intentional, but it’s a bit of a drag to read about when the book’s 450 pages long. All I’m saying is that there could have been a little bit less of it. Or the book shorter and the mystery starts earlier. There’s that too. I think it would have also helped to make Alex’s true nature clearer quicker — it’s not until someone else arrives that it becomes clear just how much of a dickhead he is. Though, again, maybe purposeful — to what extent is Marta even intended to be wholly sympathetic from the off? Regardless, I think what mattered here is the length of the book. If it had been shorter, perhaps I would have had more patience for it all.
That being said, when the mystery really got going, it was good. The atmosphere really came into play, things got a little creepy and a fair bit suspenseful. It was hard to tell just how much of this curse was real and how much was in the minds of the main characters. So, while I might not have liked this to the extent I liked either Belladonna or Hazardous Spirits, it was still a good read.
Rep: Syrian bi mc, sapphic li, Black side character
Galley provided by publisher
The Salvage is the third of Anbara Salam’s books that I’ve read and, although still a 3-star read and a book I liked reading, the one that I have to admit to liking the least. Perhaps this is a mood thing and, if so, there’s nothing much to say in this review. Let’s see.
The story follows a marine archaeologist in the 1960s who, desperate to revive her career following some, let’s say ill-advised, decisions, travels to a remote island north of Scotland to retrieve from the depths of the sea, the bones of a man who is revered as almost saintly to the people of Cairnroch. Obviously, there are secrets to be discovered there, but then objects from the wreck start to go missing and Marta starts to suspect things are not as they seem.
As with Salam’s other books, this one is a slow-burner. It wasn’t until probably about halfway, if not a little further, that the mystery started to really kick in. That was, mostly, fine I think because Salam is so good at writing atmosphere. You could really feel the claustrophobic island around Marta, the unfriendliness (at times) of the islanders, and Marta’s panic as it builds. It was a book that really transported you to its location and that was probably the best thing about it.
However, when I say mostly fine what I mean is that it starts to feel a wee bit repetitive after a while. The book was 450 pages and, I get it, Marta thinks she’s fucked up irreparably and she’ll never have a career again. It’s understandable she’s panicked for a lot of the first half of the book. It’s just, she ends up being rather self-centred about things, somewhat self-pitying even, and okay so this was probably intentional, but it’s a bit of a drag to read about when the book’s 450 pages long. All I’m saying is that there could have been a little bit less of it. Or the book shorter and the mystery starts earlier. There’s that too. I think it would have also helped to make Alex’s true nature clearer quicker — it’s not until someone else arrives that it becomes clear just how much of a dickhead he is. Though, again, maybe purposeful — to what extent is Marta even intended to be wholly sympathetic from the off? Regardless, I think what mattered here is the length of the book. If it had been shorter, perhaps I would have had more patience for it all.
That being said, when the mystery really got going, it was good. The atmosphere really came into play, things got a little creepy and a fair bit suspenseful. It was hard to tell just how much of this curse was real and how much was in the minds of the main characters. So, while I might not have liked this to the extent I liked either Belladonna or Hazardous Spirits, it was still a good read.
October 13, 2025
thank you netgalley and tin house books for an advanced reader copy of this book
the salvage is a gothic novel set in the 60s that follows archaeological diver marta on her trip to a remote scottish island in order to salvage the shipwreck of local legend auld james. however, as a snowstorm hits the island and forces marta to unwillingly extend her stay, it soon becomes apparent that there is something else, other than the artefacts, that marta has unknowingly brought up with her from the wreck.
i had some pretty high hopes for this book and i was looking forward to it being a good spooky one to get through in october. however, this book fell short to say the least.
first of all, regarding the atmosphere, this was something that i actually really liked in the first few chapters when marta goes on her first dive. i found the whole sequence to be very strong and it did a good job of drawing me into the book. i particularly liked how 2 consecutive chapters ended with “the figure, crouching”, which evokes this sense of creepiness and eeriness that i thought would be present throughout the entire book. however, after those chapters, this feeling fades into almost nothing the further into the book i progressed.
with the pacing i felt like it was rather inconsistent and at points, really dragging. i did enjoy the slower pace initially, with things slowly being built up, e.g. the situation with alex and lewis being gradually revealed rather than info-dumped. but as soon as i got to the 30-40% mark, things got boring very quickly. there was very little happening and the tension we get in the beginning seems to have evaporated.
in terms of characters, i found marta to be difficult to connect with and the constant reminder of her guilt and questionable past got old pretty quickly. i also found elsie’s character and her role to be rather surface level and it seemed like she was just there to shine a spotlight onto marta’s past and how differently marta treats elsie compared to previous lovers. and because of this, the relationship between the two of them felt a little forced at points.
this book did have its high, which unfortunately was the first few chapters that covered marta’s first dive and encounter with the figure/ghost. but that was it. the reveal of the haunting and the ending felt lackluster - i was waiting for something to happen, for something to click and get the ball rolling but i never quite reached that point and the slow pacing and buildup did not have a satisfying payoff.
i don’t think this is a bad book by any means though, i just didn’t feel like it was exactly my cup of tea
the salvage is a gothic novel set in the 60s that follows archaeological diver marta on her trip to a remote scottish island in order to salvage the shipwreck of local legend auld james. however, as a snowstorm hits the island and forces marta to unwillingly extend her stay, it soon becomes apparent that there is something else, other than the artefacts, that marta has unknowingly brought up with her from the wreck.
i had some pretty high hopes for this book and i was looking forward to it being a good spooky one to get through in october. however, this book fell short to say the least.
first of all, regarding the atmosphere, this was something that i actually really liked in the first few chapters when marta goes on her first dive. i found the whole sequence to be very strong and it did a good job of drawing me into the book. i particularly liked how 2 consecutive chapters ended with “the figure, crouching”, which evokes this sense of creepiness and eeriness that i thought would be present throughout the entire book. however, after those chapters, this feeling fades into almost nothing the further into the book i progressed.
with the pacing i felt like it was rather inconsistent and at points, really dragging. i did enjoy the slower pace initially, with things slowly being built up, e.g. the situation with alex and lewis being gradually revealed rather than info-dumped. but as soon as i got to the 30-40% mark, things got boring very quickly. there was very little happening and the tension we get in the beginning seems to have evaporated.
in terms of characters, i found marta to be difficult to connect with and the constant reminder of her guilt and questionable past got old pretty quickly. i also found elsie’s character and her role to be rather surface level and it seemed like she was just there to shine a spotlight onto marta’s past and how differently marta treats elsie compared to previous lovers. and because of this, the relationship between the two of them felt a little forced at points.
this book did have its high, which unfortunately was the first few chapters that covered marta’s first dive and encounter with the figure/ghost. but that was it. the reveal of the haunting and the ending felt lackluster - i was waiting for something to happen, for something to click and get the ball rolling but i never quite reached that point and the slow pacing and buildup did not have a satisfying payoff.
i don’t think this is a bad book by any means though, i just didn’t feel like it was exactly my cup of tea
September 28, 2025
The Salvage is a darkly atmospheric, slow burn ghost story set on a Scottish island during the Cold War era. A marine archeologist by trade, Marta is commissioned to recover the remains and belongings of a 19th century whaling ship captain who was lost in the arctic ice. Traveling with the baggage of her ex-lover's untimely drowning, a broken marriage, and a sense of impending doom amidst an island who holds a near cult-like reverence for Auld James, our main character must navigate the risks of her job, a new budding relationship, and the search for items that have gone missing from the wreck.
Although I loved the gothic elements of this story, overall it was a very very slow burn. I appreciated the strangeness of the islanders and the juxtaposition of the claustrophobia of being snowed in versus being stuck in a ship wreck and how each can slowly cause someone to lose their minds. For me there was not enough action and there was not enough detail given to explain the relationships between the islanders. I felt for most of them, their characters were two dimensional and the names were merely placeholders. I would have enjoyed more background on Auld James and perhaps chapters that actually explained what was going on onboard the ship would have been better placed between the modern day chapters. There were some parts of the ending, albeit sufficient, that left me a bit confused as to what was actually happening. Mainly regarding Auld James remains.
Overall, a spooky read for spooky season and fans of psychological horror/ghost stories or trapped in the arctic ice stories will appreciate this one.
Thanks to NetGalley, Tin House Books, and Ambara Salam for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.
Although I loved the gothic elements of this story, overall it was a very very slow burn. I appreciated the strangeness of the islanders and the juxtaposition of the claustrophobia of being snowed in versus being stuck in a ship wreck and how each can slowly cause someone to lose their minds. For me there was not enough action and there was not enough detail given to explain the relationships between the islanders. I felt for most of them, their characters were two dimensional and the names were merely placeholders. I would have enjoyed more background on Auld James and perhaps chapters that actually explained what was going on onboard the ship would have been better placed between the modern day chapters. There were some parts of the ending, albeit sufficient, that left me a bit confused as to what was actually happening. Mainly regarding Auld James remains.
Overall, a spooky read for spooky season and fans of psychological horror/ghost stories or trapped in the arctic ice stories will appreciate this one.
Thanks to NetGalley, Tin House Books, and Ambara Salam for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.
Currently reading
November 21, 2025Really Looking forward to
The Salvage by Anbara Salam
So, will post again with my review. Always Love to New Authors 💕👍🏽😎
I Book To Read. Need to Expand my Reading to Take in more obscure books and authors. Recommend Trying. Like the Publisher, Tin House.
The Salvage by Anbara SalamSo, will post again with my review. Always Love to New Authors 💕👍🏽😎
I Book To Read. Need to Expand my Reading to Take in more obscure books and authors. Recommend Trying. Like the Publisher, Tin House.
October 25, 2025
I was hoping for a creepy underwater ghost ship but instead got a whiny romance, and the protagonist had a serious case of the poor me's. (Many thanks to Shuggie Bain for that phrase.)
Want to read
August 22, 2025ARC received! Thank you, Tin House Books!
I love any Horror that dives under the sea, so am very excited to check this one out. It sounds great!
I love any Horror that dives under the sea, so am very excited to check this one out. It sounds great!
September 9, 2025
This story gets major points for creativity. I’ve never read anything quite like it. The story takes the reader to a quaint village on the sea where you get to meet the residents and realize how tight knit the community is. The atmosphere is fabulous - bleak and snowy with fires that never quite keep you warm enough. The relationships are complex and characters are well thought out. The one issue I found is that it did start out quite slowly and took a while to get going. Once it picked up it was a joy to read. I definitely recommend this book!
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
October 25, 2025
I spotted Anbara Salam's The Salvage briefly trailed in John Murray's catalogue when I went to their event at the Durham Book Festival in 2023 and was immediately keen. And on paper, this novel is indeed perfect for me. It's 1962, and marine archaeologist Marta has travelled to a fictional island off the east coast of Scotland to investigate a shipwreck recently towed back underwater. The wreck is tied to the island's own mythology; it contains the body of the inhabitants' most famous and beloved forebear, the Arctic explorer James Purdie. But when Marta ventures down into the deeps, she starts to believe that Purdie may still be haunting his ship. Moreover, when the Cuban Missile Crisis throws the island into a state of terror in October, Marta, as the only outsider, is shut out from the village's bunker, making her realise exactly how paranoid Calvinist beliefs about the elect and the damned have made this community: 'I imagine myself wandering alone on the island, pressing my cold, radioactive hand against the windowpanes'. Then, before she can escape on the once-monthly ferry, the 'Big Freeze' of December 1962 sets in, bringing blizzards that strand her on the island. Her only solace is her growing romance with local woman Elsie.
So yes, this has everything for me: chilly horror, interesting jobs, sapphics, the clever interweaving of real historical events with a more speculative story, the meeting of gothic tropes and the Cold War. Salam is also an excellent writer, really bringing the atmosphere: the descriptions of Marta's dives are a real highlight, but she also beautifully captures the frozen weather: 'seething, foamy thickets of snow... the surf along the coast congealing into a slurry'. And yet, I struggled. The Salvage is a long book and an incredibly slow one; this would have mattered less to me if I'd been more engaged with the characters, but while Marta is a well-written protagonist, the people she interacts with feel like they are there for her to bounce off rather than existing as individuals in their own right. The stakes are consistently low, despite such promising material, and the supernatural is resolutely pushed into the background. On another note, despite the extensive historical research Salam has clearly done, I kept on forgetting this was set in the early sixties. The characters' dialogue and thought processes read as much more contemporary. Where this really started to bother me was in the treatment of Marta and Elsie's relationship. They're both hopelessly casual about it, despite the fact we're not just in a time period where same-sex attraction between women was only spoken about as a psychological aberration, but on an island deeply steeped in Presbyterian prejudice. They read like happily bisexual Gen Zs, not women of their time, erasing queer history and playing into wrongheaded assumptions that queer women, unlike queer men, never really suffered. By the end, I was rapidly skimming. What a shame.
I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.
So yes, this has everything for me: chilly horror, interesting jobs, sapphics, the clever interweaving of real historical events with a more speculative story, the meeting of gothic tropes and the Cold War. Salam is also an excellent writer, really bringing the atmosphere: the descriptions of Marta's dives are a real highlight, but she also beautifully captures the frozen weather: 'seething, foamy thickets of snow... the surf along the coast congealing into a slurry'. And yet, I struggled. The Salvage is a long book and an incredibly slow one; this would have mattered less to me if I'd been more engaged with the characters, but while Marta is a well-written protagonist, the people she interacts with feel like they are there for her to bounce off rather than existing as individuals in their own right. The stakes are consistently low, despite such promising material, and the supernatural is resolutely pushed into the background. On another note, despite the extensive historical research Salam has clearly done, I kept on forgetting this was set in the early sixties. The characters' dialogue and thought processes read as much more contemporary. Where this really started to bother me was in the treatment of Marta and Elsie's relationship. They're both hopelessly casual about it, despite the fact we're not just in a time period where same-sex attraction between women was only spoken about as a psychological aberration, but on an island deeply steeped in Presbyterian prejudice. They read like happily bisexual Gen Zs, not women of their time, erasing queer history and playing into wrongheaded assumptions that queer women, unlike queer men, never really suffered. By the end, I was rapidly skimming. What a shame.
I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.
November 16, 2025
First of all: this is sloooow. To me, it was a rather cozy spooky read with a sapphic love story and some smart political undertones, ca. 150 pages too long.
"The Salvage" takes place during Great Britain's "Big Freeze" in 1962, an intense cold front that lasted for two months (I love book plots in arctic climates, they make me feel extra cozy).
The first-person narrator Marta Khoury is a marine archaeologist and professional diver. She is hired by Lord and Lady Purdie to bring up relics from a Victorian shipwreck for their museum on the fictive Cairnroch Island on the coast of Scotland. When a presence from the shipwreck seems to follow Marta, she has to find out if it is linked to her and her difficult past.
Once again, the really cool cover drew me in.
This ghost story does not shy away from real life hauntings such as racism (Marta, who is of Syrian descent, and her Black colleague face microaggressions as PoC and women all the time), colonialism and violence against Indigenous people as well as the Cuban missile crisis, a new dimension of the Cold War. These are the truly dark features of the story.
"They've earned a family curse."
CN: racist slurs, racism against BIPoC, murder of Indigenous people, colonialism, nuclear warfare
"The Salvage" takes place during Great Britain's "Big Freeze" in 1962, an intense cold front that lasted for two months (I love book plots in arctic climates, they make me feel extra cozy).
The first-person narrator Marta Khoury is a marine archaeologist and professional diver. She is hired by Lord and Lady Purdie to bring up relics from a Victorian shipwreck for their museum on the fictive Cairnroch Island on the coast of Scotland. When a presence from the shipwreck seems to follow Marta, she has to find out if it is linked to her and her difficult past.
Once again, the really cool cover drew me in.
This ghost story does not shy away from real life hauntings such as racism (Marta, who is of Syrian descent, and her Black colleague face microaggressions as PoC and women all the time), colonialism and violence against Indigenous people as well as the Cuban missile crisis, a new dimension of the Cold War. These are the truly dark features of the story.
"They've earned a family curse."
CN: racist slurs, racism against BIPoC, murder of Indigenous people, colonialism, nuclear warfare
Read
November 19, 2025DNF at 30%. While atmospheric, the pace was glacial. I simply never got to a point where I wanted to know what would happen next. I stalled out...and stopped.
December 11, 2025
This was so fun!! Sapphic shipwreck snowstorm spectral suspense? Scrumptious.
September 23, 2025
Archeology, ghosts, dark secrets, corruption and greed…you have that, and then some, in this book.
Marta is one of the only woman, or people , for that matter, who can do what she does-dive into preserved site and recover what is still there. It’s dangerous work, but she still takes on the task, and proves how valuable she is. Unfortunately, the skeletons in her closet may be her undoing.
Let’s start with the setting-an isolated, remote island in Scotland approaching a cold and bleak winter that refuses to release its icy grip on Cairnroch. With this place alone, the author is laying the foundation for a creepy and haunting tale. And then you have the hero’s tale encompassing the island-the story of a man the islanders call Auld James. Marta has been tasked with gathering his final treasures from his ship. Sounds straightforward enough. But horror stories cannot be so simple.
As Anbara lays out the story-but by bit-the ghosts come out of hiding, both for the islanders, and for Marta, and the truth becomes much more sinister than anyone realized. It also becomes harder for Marta to keep her past from breaking into the present, and with it, the carefully crafted web of lies she tells to keep her life from crumbling. The tumble towards the truth speeds up, and so does the danger.
I will say that although I really enjoy the story, I really didn’t like Marta all that much. Her selfishness and desperation was a bit much. But I would still recommend this book.
Thank you NetGalley, and Tin House Books, for my arc. My opinion is my own.
Marta is one of the only woman, or people , for that matter, who can do what she does-dive into preserved site and recover what is still there. It’s dangerous work, but she still takes on the task, and proves how valuable she is. Unfortunately, the skeletons in her closet may be her undoing.
Let’s start with the setting-an isolated, remote island in Scotland approaching a cold and bleak winter that refuses to release its icy grip on Cairnroch. With this place alone, the author is laying the foundation for a creepy and haunting tale. And then you have the hero’s tale encompassing the island-the story of a man the islanders call Auld James. Marta has been tasked with gathering his final treasures from his ship. Sounds straightforward enough. But horror stories cannot be so simple.
As Anbara lays out the story-but by bit-the ghosts come out of hiding, both for the islanders, and for Marta, and the truth becomes much more sinister than anyone realized. It also becomes harder for Marta to keep her past from breaking into the present, and with it, the carefully crafted web of lies she tells to keep her life from crumbling. The tumble towards the truth speeds up, and so does the danger.
I will say that although I really enjoy the story, I really didn’t like Marta all that much. Her selfishness and desperation was a bit much. But I would still recommend this book.
Thank you NetGalley, and Tin House Books, for my arc. My opinion is my own.
December 4, 2025
2.5 ☆
the salvage hits on a lot of buzzwords for a very specific kind of reader, a kind that i usually identify with. sapphic! brooding scottish landscapes! something vaguely creepy going on in the depths of the ocean! the spectre of nuclear war hanging over everyone’s heads! but even with all of these juicy little taglines, something about anbara salam’s fourth novel fell just a bit flat for me.
let me rewind a moment to set the stage. the salvage follows marta, a marine archaeologist working on a shipwreck off the coast of an insular scottish (and calvinist) island. marta is a clear outsider in this superstitious place, and her encounters with the townspeople reveal just how important the shipwreck is to those living on the island. to make matters worse, a job that should bring marta success as an archeologist and renown on the small island starts to sour once key artifacts from the shipwreck go missing. are there smugglers on the island? or could there be something more supernatural afoot? marta is haunted not only by the ghosts of her past but also by something that feels distinctly sinister bubbling up from its watery grave, and it’s up to her and her local situationship—elsie—to figure out what’s going on before word of the missing relics makes it back to the mainland.
the salvage is not a novel without its own kind of compelling beauty. salam does a really excellent job of showing how marta is turned outsider by the insular community in which she is working for a whole host of reasons—her ethnicity (echoing salam’s own palestinian heritage), her sexuality, her habits of wearing pants and living an unconventional kind of femininity. your heart just has to ache for marta and her attempts to enmesh herself in this corner of scotland. her relationship with elsie is made that much sweeter for her difficulties fitting in, and while i do wish that their relationship had more tension and spark, i am very pleased with the ways in which salam is able to embed her novel with sapphic desire and gentle love.
but in the end, i wanted more from just about every aspect of this novel. the start and end of the book exist on the same plane, with a whole lot of snowy scenes and emotionally flat flirting tossed in for good measure. salam is trying to probe many themes here, and yet none of them feel entirely resolved by the novel’s end. the paranoia of the cuban missile crisis? ultimately irrelevant. silent spring? hamfistedly forced into the narrative in a last-ditch attempt to turn this into climate fiction. it’s not horror, it’s not supernatural litfic, but it’s also not not those two things. i never felt fully emotionally invested, or at least felt that the emotional beats never managed to land quite right. it unfortunately just all kind of plodded along without a clear plot, a disappointment for a novel with such a compelling premise and intriguing characters.
i wanted so badly to like this novel, but find it to be a pretty solid 2.5 stars. i’ll definitely be checking out salam’s other novels, though, as the writing style was pleasant and the novel itself had so much promise. not an immediate success for me, but possibly just right for another reader, one who is okay with a specific kind of ambiguity and atmosphere over substance.
thank you to tin house and netgalley for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
the salvage hits on a lot of buzzwords for a very specific kind of reader, a kind that i usually identify with. sapphic! brooding scottish landscapes! something vaguely creepy going on in the depths of the ocean! the spectre of nuclear war hanging over everyone’s heads! but even with all of these juicy little taglines, something about anbara salam’s fourth novel fell just a bit flat for me.
let me rewind a moment to set the stage. the salvage follows marta, a marine archaeologist working on a shipwreck off the coast of an insular scottish (and calvinist) island. marta is a clear outsider in this superstitious place, and her encounters with the townspeople reveal just how important the shipwreck is to those living on the island. to make matters worse, a job that should bring marta success as an archeologist and renown on the small island starts to sour once key artifacts from the shipwreck go missing. are there smugglers on the island? or could there be something more supernatural afoot? marta is haunted not only by the ghosts of her past but also by something that feels distinctly sinister bubbling up from its watery grave, and it’s up to her and her local situationship—elsie—to figure out what’s going on before word of the missing relics makes it back to the mainland.
the salvage is not a novel without its own kind of compelling beauty. salam does a really excellent job of showing how marta is turned outsider by the insular community in which she is working for a whole host of reasons—her ethnicity (echoing salam’s own palestinian heritage), her sexuality, her habits of wearing pants and living an unconventional kind of femininity. your heart just has to ache for marta and her attempts to enmesh herself in this corner of scotland. her relationship with elsie is made that much sweeter for her difficulties fitting in, and while i do wish that their relationship had more tension and spark, i am very pleased with the ways in which salam is able to embed her novel with sapphic desire and gentle love.
but in the end, i wanted more from just about every aspect of this novel. the start and end of the book exist on the same plane, with a whole lot of snowy scenes and emotionally flat flirting tossed in for good measure. salam is trying to probe many themes here, and yet none of them feel entirely resolved by the novel’s end. the paranoia of the cuban missile crisis? ultimately irrelevant. silent spring? hamfistedly forced into the narrative in a last-ditch attempt to turn this into climate fiction. it’s not horror, it’s not supernatural litfic, but it’s also not not those two things. i never felt fully emotionally invested, or at least felt that the emotional beats never managed to land quite right. it unfortunately just all kind of plodded along without a clear plot, a disappointment for a novel with such a compelling premise and intriguing characters.
i wanted so badly to like this novel, but find it to be a pretty solid 2.5 stars. i’ll definitely be checking out salam’s other novels, though, as the writing style was pleasant and the novel itself had so much promise. not an immediate success for me, but possibly just right for another reader, one who is okay with a specific kind of ambiguity and atmosphere over substance.
thank you to tin house and netgalley for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
Want to read
August 22, 2025arc!
October 10, 2025
This historical horror gothic mystery novel wastes no time grabbing your attention. Within the first two chapters you are experiencing a very atmospheric underwater world. There is a sense of creeping dread and frigid cold throughout the novel. The FMC Marta is a witty, female archaeology deep sea diver who to work in a very male dominated field. She also has some secrets from her life back home. The majority of this story takes place on a Scottish island so there is an element of isolation threaded into the plot, plus the anxiety of dealing with small town folks who don't like outsiders.
I enjoyed this story a lot, but because of all the tropes, timelines and characters that are in this novel- it got a little confusing for me sometimes. The writing was beautiful and very well done, there is just a lot going on with the past present timeline. The story also seemed to slow way down at 40% so it started to feel a bit boring. I wish there would of been more underwater scenes since it's about a shipwreck- but overall the story played out well with all the elements.
If you like the depth of Nestlings by Nat Cassidy or Ghost Story by Peter Straub- you're going to love this book!
Thank you to NetGalley and Tin House Books for providing an eARC of The Salvage prior to publication. Expected Pub Date: October 7th, 2025
I enjoyed this story a lot, but because of all the tropes, timelines and characters that are in this novel- it got a little confusing for me sometimes. The writing was beautiful and very well done, there is just a lot going on with the past present timeline. The story also seemed to slow way down at 40% so it started to feel a bit boring. I wish there would of been more underwater scenes since it's about a shipwreck- but overall the story played out well with all the elements.
If you like the depth of Nestlings by Nat Cassidy or Ghost Story by Peter Straub- you're going to love this book!
Thank you to NetGalley and Tin House Books for providing an eARC of The Salvage prior to publication. Expected Pub Date: October 7th, 2025
Want to read
June 19, 2025"A twisting, gothic literary thriller sure to delight fans of Armfield's Our Wives Under the Sea, Donoghue's The Wonder and Waters' The Paying Guests"
September 23, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley and Tin House for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
3.25 stars
On the whole, while there things that worked very well for me, this book was not an overall success. Part of this may have been the expectations I went in with, given that the publisher compares this to The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters and Our Wives Under the Sea (an all time fave) by Julia Armfield. And while Salam does many things well here, it falls fall short of these comps.
In this book we follow Marta, a biracial woman in 1962 Scotland who happens to be a diver for a museum, salvaging items from the bottom of the ocean. She is currently on an assignment, sent to an isolated Scottish island during what turns out to be a months long blizzard (which is an actual historical event) to salvage items from the ship of a local hero, which has recently been towed back to the coast of the island from where it originally sank. On top of the obvious dangers of the deep sea diving and freezing conditions, Marta is also treated coldly as an outsider; she is suspicious for her color, her gender, and the suspicion that she is not one of the "chosen" per the Calvinist beliefs of the islanders. She is also very clearly running from a failing marriage as well as from a traumatic loss. These are mentioned over and over again with details slow to come; when they do, they are hardly bombshells, though these seem to be part of the plot as devices to build tension and mystery. As Marta explores the salvaged ship and begins attempting to bring items up to shore, strange things begin happening on island, affecting its inhabitants.
The sense of place in this novel is incredibly constructed. This was by far my favorite part of the novel. Salam does an incredible job not only with the literal atmosphere (the cold and snow, the old hotel) but also in describing the culture of the island. Unfortunately most everything else fell flat. The tension did not feel like tension; in an odd way, it seemed like she threw too much in to be effective in building a sense of dread. I just became impatient and found Marta a bit weary with her self-flagellation and hints of her past coming up over and over again. Additionally, when we finally come to the denouement, it feel completely flat for me.
So while something of a mixed bag, this mostly wasn't for me, but it truly could've been largely due to expectations that were through the roof! Others may really enjoy this, especially if you like getting the full story and more concrete answers from mysteries like this.
3.25 stars
On the whole, while there things that worked very well for me, this book was not an overall success. Part of this may have been the expectations I went in with, given that the publisher compares this to The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters and Our Wives Under the Sea (an all time fave) by Julia Armfield. And while Salam does many things well here, it falls fall short of these comps.
In this book we follow Marta, a biracial woman in 1962 Scotland who happens to be a diver for a museum, salvaging items from the bottom of the ocean. She is currently on an assignment, sent to an isolated Scottish island during what turns out to be a months long blizzard (which is an actual historical event) to salvage items from the ship of a local hero, which has recently been towed back to the coast of the island from where it originally sank. On top of the obvious dangers of the deep sea diving and freezing conditions, Marta is also treated coldly as an outsider; she is suspicious for her color, her gender, and the suspicion that she is not one of the "chosen" per the Calvinist beliefs of the islanders. She is also very clearly running from a failing marriage as well as from a traumatic loss. These are mentioned over and over again with details slow to come; when they do, they are hardly bombshells, though these seem to be part of the plot as devices to build tension and mystery. As Marta explores the salvaged ship and begins attempting to bring items up to shore, strange things begin happening on island, affecting its inhabitants.
The sense of place in this novel is incredibly constructed. This was by far my favorite part of the novel. Salam does an incredible job not only with the literal atmosphere (the cold and snow, the old hotel) but also in describing the culture of the island. Unfortunately most everything else fell flat. The tension did not feel like tension; in an odd way, it seemed like she threw too much in to be effective in building a sense of dread. I just became impatient and found Marta a bit weary with her self-flagellation and hints of her past coming up over and over again. Additionally, when we finally come to the denouement, it feel completely flat for me.
So while something of a mixed bag, this mostly wasn't for me, but it truly could've been largely due to expectations that were through the roof! Others may really enjoy this, especially if you like getting the full story and more concrete answers from mysteries like this.
September 19, 2025
ARC
I’d like to thank Tin House Books and NetGalley for the chance to give “The Salvage” a read in return for an honest review.
In “The Salvage”, we see the dichotomy between nautical, supernatural fears and Cold War fears, coming together to craft a story that is as compelling as it is bone-chilling. It begins with some haunting imagery, which follows throughout the entirety of the novel. We see Marta, our main character, battle internal turmoil alongside the paranoia that the Cold War induced, being haunted by not only her past, but the political present. Ghostly activity is everywhere, which becomes very effective with the fantastic atmosphere that Salam creates. The end, while fitting in with the story, felt a bit disappointing, since I wanted something a bit more exciting out of it. The set-up for the story worked so well, only to fizz out a bit towards the end. As much as I wasn’t a huge fan of the end, the journey there was worthwhile altogether.
Be sure to check out “The Salvage” when it is published on October 7, 2025!
I’d like to thank Tin House Books and NetGalley for the chance to give “The Salvage” a read in return for an honest review.
In “The Salvage”, we see the dichotomy between nautical, supernatural fears and Cold War fears, coming together to craft a story that is as compelling as it is bone-chilling. It begins with some haunting imagery, which follows throughout the entirety of the novel. We see Marta, our main character, battle internal turmoil alongside the paranoia that the Cold War induced, being haunted by not only her past, but the political present. Ghostly activity is everywhere, which becomes very effective with the fantastic atmosphere that Salam creates. The end, while fitting in with the story, felt a bit disappointing, since I wanted something a bit more exciting out of it. The set-up for the story worked so well, only to fizz out a bit towards the end. As much as I wasn’t a huge fan of the end, the journey there was worthwhile altogether.
Be sure to check out “The Salvage” when it is published on October 7, 2025!
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