This novel takes place on the island of By the Sea, as in the poem "Annabelle Lee" by Edgar Allen Poe goes "in her kingdom by the sea". There is an Annabella in this story but it's a rare bird supposedly the 300-year-old ancestor of the Fernwehs who are witches though it is never openly said aloud. Annabella had the ability to float and one day she turned into a bird and flew away, but always returned for two months in the summer to visit her twin sister Georgina. Scientists insist that this is a different bird, but whenever Annabella visits and lays her eggs they never hatch chicks and she looks the same every year. The weather on the island is very odd with blizzards one day and blistering hot sun the next and a cemetery that is autumn year round.
The Fernwehs own an inn that is only open the two months that Annabella comes to the island. It is run by Penelope Fernweh, who can create potions and her twin daughters Mary and Georgina who are on the cusp of their eighteenth birthday. Georgina does not have a special power and if one does not appear before her eighteenth birthday then one won't ever appear. For those two months, the birders appear and book the inn up solid and go on a hunt for Annabella. This year Annabella is late in arriving and they are worried something may have happened to her.
One set of new birders is Harrison and his sister Prue. Mary is attracted to Harrison while Georgina is attracted to Prue. While Mary throws herself at Harrison and for once in her life cannot get a male's attention, Georgina makes tentative steps with his sister Prue. Georgina has only had one girlfriend as there aren't a lot of gay people on the island. This will be a nice summer romance before going off to college on the mainland in the fall, which will also be the first time the young women will have been off the island.
A bit of mystery, a bit of romance, a bit of magic makes this book one helluva read. There's Mary who's kinda selfish and lets Georgina take the fall for her crimes and Georgina who would rather stay at home and sleep because she has to get up early the next morning than go to another boring bonfire party. But Georgina will always go because Mary asks her to. Mary who doesn't seem to have any friends of her own while Georgina has a group of friends she hangs out with. They're as different as night and day but they love and take care of each other as sisters do so when Mary is keeping something from Georgina she is determined to find out what it is and to find out where Annabella is hiding. The writing is incredible. Leno is a masterful storyteller and you really don't want the book to end. I highly recommend this book, but especially on rainy days.
Quotes
Kissing is gross. Think of all the germs.
-Katrina Leno (Summer of Salt p 80)
The dead loved promises; the living loved promising.
-Katrina Leno (Summer of Salt p 248)Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Summer-Salt-Katrina-Leno-ebook/dp/B071ZDMJY8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537188314&sr=8-1&keywords=summer+of+salt
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