A haunting gothic masterpiece from the author of the critically acclaimed Hazardous Spirits, which was shortlisted for Fiction Book of the Year at Scotland's National Books Awards 2024.

'A gothic tale with a powerful sense of place and an eerie atmosphere'
The Sunday Times, Best New Historical Fiction Picks

'A heady, entertaining brew...asks questions about guilt, superstition, desire, power, and historical inheritance'
Scotland on Sunday

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.

'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

'Strong on atmosphere, sustaining a mood of sombre, oppressive suspense which is highly effective . . . Salam scores highly for conjuring up an immersive Gothic ambience and a sense of bitter cold so vivid that we can feel it chill our own bones as we read' Scottish Herald