The Salvage

‘With her signature wit and unflinching eye for historical detail Anbara Salam brings a remote Scottish island chillingly to life. The Salvage plumbs the icy depths of memory and colonialism and explores whether love can survive in the frostiest of outposts’ Francine Toon, bestselling author of Pine and Bluff

‘The Salvage is a novel to keep you up all night. Anbara Salam is a master of suspense’ Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Child Finder

‘A rich, gothic mystery, The Salvage has a moody, salt-drenched atmosphere, and layers of intrigue that span centuries. I couldn’t put it down’ Flynn Berry, New York Times bestselling author of A Double Life

It is 1962, and Marta Khoury, a trail-blazing marine archaeologist, has travelled to Cairnroch, a small island off the east coast of Scotland. An Arctic shipwreck containing the remains of a famous Victorian explorer has been towed back to the island at the behest of his wealthy descendants. Marta’s job is to retrieve valuable artefacts from the vessel, deep beneath the freezing Scottish waters. But on her first dive, she becomes convinced she has seen a ghostly figure lurking in the wreckage.

When Marta discovers objects from the vessel have inexplicably disappeared, she must work to uncover their whereabouts before her boss – who is also her ex-husband – discovers their absence. As a series of unsettling and strange occurrences begins to unfold, Marta’s work trip turns into a long winter as the worst snowstorms of the century sweep in and trap the islanders, and their ghosts, in an icy wilderness.

Author Biography

Anbara Salam is the Palestinian-Scottish author of Things Bright and Beautiful and Belladonna. Her novel Hazardous Spirits was shortlisted for Fiction Book of the Year at Scotland’s National Book Awards. She has a PhD in Theology and now lives in Oxford.