In The Salt Grows Heavy, Cassandra Khaw creates a dark, hungry world. It’s the kind of world where the mermaids are abyssal creatures, far from the ones in our own fairy tales, and where magic always has a dark price. And yet, for all the horrific violence contained in these pages, I found a surprising amount of love and heart in this brief novella.
Once upon a time, a mermaid was fished out of the sea. The prince who ordered her capture whisked her away to his castle and killed her sisters to display their skins on the wall. But this mermaid had her revenge. Or, rather, her daughters had the mermaid’s revenge. When they were born, they devoured the prince and everyone in his castle and a good bit of the surrounding area. The only one left alive is the mysterious plague doctor, the only person who treated the mermaid humanely (for lack of a more accurate word) and not like a living trophy. After this eye-opening beginning, the mermaid and the plague doctor leave without a clear destination in mind. The mermaid can’t return to the sea; she’s changed too much. The doctor has nowhere else to go.
The main plot of The Salt Grows Heavy arrives when the mermaid and the plague doctor witness a grotesque game in which a group of children hunt down and murder another child. Horrified, the plague doctor intervenes. Together, the plague doctor and the mermaid learn about a trio of monstrous surgeons who use children in their quest for immortality and resurrection. Finding a way to cheat death might seem like a worthy goal but, the plague doctor is adamant, not at the cost the surgeons are forcing their test subjects to pay.
Nothing in The Salt Grows Heavy happened the way I expected it. That’s why I enjoyed it so much, even with all the gore. I enjoyed the questions the book wrestled with. The mermaid, for much of the story, doesn’t have much of a moral code. She hurts the ones who hurt her but she doesn’t want to get involved on behalf of others. The plague doctor, however, has a tender heart and a fierce sense of ethics. That sense of ethics affects a powerful transformation in the mermaid, perhaps more powerful than her own ability to weather seemingly any physical punishment. It also leads to a poignant ending that might draw a surprising tear to the eye.