House of Salt and Sorrows

Content Warning: House of Salt and Sorrows includes disturbing imagery, several deaths, murders, and a stillborn birth in the Chapter 38 Summary.

Eighteen-year-old Annaleigh Thaumas is at a seaside cave for the water burial of her sister Eulalie. The oldest of the 12 Thaumas sisters, Eulalie was known for her beauty, wit, and smile. Her many suitors mourn her, and Annaleigh tries to summon tears as Eulalie is given to the Salt, the sea surrounding the Salann Islands. Though Annaleigh will miss her sister, she’s already lost three sisters over the years: Ava died from a plague, Octavia fell off a library ladder, and Elizabeth drowned in a bathtub. Her sisters’ watery graves and statues surround the mourners, along with her beloved mother Cecilia’s statue. Cecilia died years ago, but Annaleigh still visits her shrine every week.

As the priest leads the mourners in prayer, Annaleigh wonders if her family is cursed, if they somehow angered the gods. Her mourning father, Duke Ortun of the Salann Islands, invites everyone to join the family at their castle, Highmoor Manor, for food and drink in Eulalie’s honor. Morella, his new wife, holds his hand.