The literary market is currently in the grip of a fantasy-romance craze. Love, with a liberal dollop of magic, is all the rage. In the midst of this hype, Francesca Simon’s Salka refuses to follow the crowd: for better or worse. Adapted from her cantata The Faerie Bride, performed at Aldeburgh Festival in 2022 and drawing from the medieval Lady Of The Lake Welsh myth, Salka follows this titular character as she leaves the lands of faerie to join her beloved Owain in the human world.

There is, however, a single condition to their union: if Owain deals her three heart-blows, she must return to the lake forever. Despite a mutual infatuation, their relationship is strained by Owain’s hostile and insular community. Do not be deceived by the three-star rating here: Salka is sure to be polarising as it is a strange beast; lyrical but slow, experimental yet unexciting. Is it a love letter to the tradition of oral storytelling? Perhaps. Is it a misfire? Quite possibly.

Simon, in addition to retelling a medieval story, seeks to revive its form. And in doing so, she sacrifices many of the hallmarks of modern literature, namely psychological realism and fully realised characters. This is not necessarily a flaw: Salka is intentionally more akin to medieval poetry than modern prose and Simon chooses every word with intention, so beautifully does each sentence flow from the page. 

Yet, for genre readers, fed on a diet rich in propulsive plot, complex characters and expansive world-building, Salka will fall short. For romance readers, expecting plenty of tension and drama, it may again fail to deliver. Perhaps in the hands of those accustomed to the cadence and lyricism of narrative poetry, and appreciative of Simon’s labour over each turn of phrase, Salka may find a home. 

The Way is published by Faber on Thursday 24 April