Rebecca Ferrier for The Salt Bind

'An utterly mesmerising gothic fairytale and a love letter to all the women who are marked as witches simply for being different. Wild, darkly woven and overflowing with courage, this novel is an enchantment you cannot miss' -- LUCY ROSE, author of The Lamb

Cornwall, 1779: On a late August evening Kensa comes across a dying sea monster under the light of a full moon. The first of its kind to grace the storm-torn shore of Portscatho in centuries, it is an omen...

For scarlet-haired Kensa, daughter of the most feared smuggler to ever roam the Cornish coast, her destiny is sealed as apprentice to the local wise woman. Under the guidance of Isolde, Kensa learns secrets of the Old Ways, the ancient magic that binds the land and sea.

But when Isolde sickens Kensa turns to the Bucka, the Father of Storms, a vengeful sea god chained to the ocean. Desperate to save her mentor, Kensa makes a deal with the deadly creature; a pact that risks everything she's sworn to protect.

The Salt Bind is an unputdownable and hypnotising historical fantasy page-turner steeped in salt, superstition and seafolk - a world of forgotten sirens, sea gods and the alchemy of the Old Ways. Perfect for fans of The Bear and the Nightingale and The Binding.

Rebecca Ferrier lives in Scotland, where she writes about difficult women, sickness and the sea. She first began drafting her novel as part of the All Stories mentorship scheme, which she completed with funding from Creative Scotland. Rebecca was the winner of the 2020 Emerging Writer Award. Recently, she has been awarded a PhD studentship in Creative Writing at Northumbria University, and is also a member of the Death Writes network, supported by The University of Glasgow Arts Lab. The Salt Bind is her first novel.