What’s the book? A Fate Worse than Drowning by Sarah L. Hawthorn
What kind of dark is it? Ghosts, demons, a little bit of murder
How good is it? 8/10 shipwrecks
Elle would do anything for her sister Liney. No sacrifice is too great for her beloved little sister, not even the sacrifice of her own soul. Elle would and has sacrificed friends, family, fortune, and yes, her eternal soul for Liney (though Liney doesn’t know about that last bit) so it’s super awkward that Liney isn’t sure she wants all this sacrifice. How do you tell your beloved martyr of a sister that what you really want is some room to breathe and choose your own path through life?
This is a touching ghost story with a bit of actual history thrown in, set in Nova Scotia back in the vague past of railroad building and lighthouses tended by lonely keepers. Notably, it’s far enough back in history that nobody was giving lighthouse jobs to single women, which makes Elle’s job on this lonely island is a mystery from the start. We quickly learn that she got this “job” and home by murdering the legitimate lighthouse keeper; his ghost follows her around yelling at her and trying to make her feel guilty about that.
It’s hard to make Elle feel guilty, though, because she only did that to rescue her sister from an arranged marriage to a terrible creep; her parents were desperate to form a business connection with the creep and first offered Elle to the guy. By the time that deal fell apart, Elle knew what bad news he was–violent and greedy–but nobody was listening because money. Her parents offered the guy their second daughter, Liney, a sickly asthmatic girl but very charming in her way. Of course, Liney was also totally gay but that wasn’t a thing you’d admit to back then and definitely not a reason to call off an advantageous wedding.
In desperation to save her sister, Elle did a bit of magic and more or less sold her soul in exchange for escape and this lighthouse gig. But it’s not just her soul on the line–Mr. Pratterman, the demonic person she’s made the deal with, also wants her to occasionally use the lighthouse to lure ships to their demise instead of guiding them safely to shore. Elle doesn’t like it but she’ll do it to keep her sister safe.
Of course, things get more twisted and complicated as the book goes on, with Elle trying to fulfill and escape the deal and Pratterman trying to tangle her deeper into his infernal schemes. A single survivor of one of Elle’s shipwrecks complicates things further as Liney forms a close relationship with this charming Irish traveler. As Liney starts asserting her own will and Elle grows less sure of what to do, the story becomes both more exciting and more touching as all these people (including, eventually, the ghost haunting Elle) have to navigate their various desires and loyalties while trying to prevent more bloodshed and damnation.
It’s not a very scary story but it’s got that timeless melancholy feeling that so many good ghost stories have. It’s quite sad and lyrical in its way, while also having interesting characters and an engaging plot with a few thrilling twists. It does drive to a dramatic conclusion in which serious blood is shed, despite Elle’s efforts to avoid it. Quite a lovely read, indeed, with a suitably epic conclusion.
