House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

The Twelve Dancing Princesses was one of my favorite fairy tales as a child. I had a gorgeous version illustrated by Errol Le Cain; I flipped through the pages hundreds of times, sometimes reading the text and sometimes searching the drawings for a new detail. That book has long since worn out, but I framed the cover, with its 12 dancers in ornate ballgowns.

Erin A. Craig's debut novel is a retelling of the story: Annaleigh is the daughter of a duke, not a princess, and grieving over the mysterious deaths of four of her sisters. The all-night balls and worn-out slippers are here, but secondary to Annaleigh's determination to find out what happened to her sisters.

The story was a little long; I think Craig could have skipped some of the numerous and lengthy descriptions of dresses, palaces, and festivals. But the world she created was fascinating: the People of the Salt worship an ocean deity, and their lives revolve around the sea and its denizens. Gods and demigods walk the lands and regularly interfere in the lives of humans. There are ghosts and storms and monsters, an ancient, crumbling mansion and a salt-covered lighthouse -- perfect reading for November.

And look at the endpapers!

It's rare that I find a modern book with artistic endpapers. A fun detail for an enjoyable book.