Saltwash
by Andrew Michael Hurley
Andrew Michael Hurley’s linked short story collection Barrowbeck showed him experimenting with different genres beyond the folk horror that made his name in works such as cult debut The Loney and Starve Acre. In some ways, his forthcoming novel Saltwash reflects a similar willingness to blend horror with other themes.
The protagonist of the book is one Tom Shift, an elderly man recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. As part of a “pen-pal scheme” run by his cancer clinic, Tom is matched with another patient, Oliver Keele. From the style of his letters—replete with literary quotations and self-deprecating humour—Oliver comes across as quite old-fashioned and intellectual. Yet his life history remains shadowy and suspicious, and the dire financial straits he finds himself in seem incongruent with his apparent academic achievements. Tom becomes intrigued, and when Oliver suggests they meet for dinner, he seizes the opportunity—even though the unexpected rendezvous is set at the run-down Castle Hotel in the distant, dismal, and out-of-season seaside resort of Saltwash.
Upon arrival, Tom begins to notice that
several elderly patrons are converging on the hotel, which appears to be open
solely to host what turns out to be a secretive annual gathering. The other
guests warmly hail Tom as a friend of Oliver, but remain evasive about the
purpose of their meeting. Only when his host finally arrives does Tom begin to
piece together the secrets of Oliver’s past—and the real reason he has been
summoned.
It would be remiss to reveal the details of the plot. Suffice it to say that Saltwash is not, in my view, primarily a work of “horror,” but rather a philosophical meditation on illness, old age, and impending death; crime and punishment; sin and redemption. Hurley does, however, darken the tale with a riff on Shirley Jackson, and with elements of folk horror which, for him, are clearly home ground. The atmosphere of decadence and decay in Saltwash in general, and the Castle Hotel in particular, is conveyed with vivid precision, and the trope of the ingenuous outsider caught in a nest of secrets and lies (and, possibly, macabre goings-on) is reworked to great effect. I also appreciated how these elements serve to underscore the novel’s more philosophical concerns.
However—and I say this as a fan of the author—I must admit that I found this novel rather overlong, with its plot and themes spun out to their limit. Even though, at around 250 pages, it is hardly a tome, it nonetheless feels as though it would have worked better as a novella.
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