The Mythology of Salt and Other Stories

This lyrical collection of 18 dark fairy tales showcases New Zealand author Cade’s impressive poetic ear but reveals itself to be frustratingly one-note as it goes on. Among the collection’s stronger entries are the imagistic “The Atomic Hallows and the Body of Science,” which traces the eerie physical transformations of seven Manhattan Project scientists, and the moving title story, which follows a family of indigenous women through several generations. Cade (The Stone Wētā) is a master of conjuring dreamlike worlds, but despite the rich prose stylings and immersive atmospherics, the stories lack narrative range and begin to blur into one another as they linger on themes of transformation and violation. The Catholic ghost story “The Knife Orchard,” the “Beauty and the Beast” retelling “The Little Beast,” and the Māori myth–inspired “The Mussel Eater” all employ the same formal structure as their depictions of domestic abuse situations give rise to revenge. Though each individual tale is beautifully told, bundled together they lose their shine. (July)