In the shadow of her bestselling debut “The Cloisters,” Katy Hays delivers a sophomore novel, “Saltwater,” that plunges readers into the treacherous waters of wealth, family, and identity. “Saltwater” is a serpentine mystery set primarily on the island of Capri, where thirty years ago, playwright Sarah Lingate fell to her death, leaving behind a three-year-old daughter, Helen. What unfolds is not merely a whodunit but an examination of how money corrodes, how family binds, and how truths, like bodies in the Mediterranean, can remain submerged for decades before the tide inevitably brings them to shore.
With precise, cutting prose and a structure that shifts between multiple perspectives and timelines, Hays crafts a story where no character is innocent and everyone is drowning in their own way. Like the deceptively beautiful cliffs of Capri, “Saltwater” presents a gorgeous facade that masks the danger lurking beneath.
Plot: A Cliffside Descent into Decades of Deception
The novel opens in present day with Helen Lingate and her friend Lorna Moreno arriving on Capri for the annual family trip—a ritual pilgrimage to prove the innocence of Helen’s father, Richard, who many suspect pushed Sarah to her death three decades earlier. But this anniversary brings an unexpected delivery: the gold snake necklace Sarah wore the night she died, thought lost to the sea.
What follows is a carefully orchestrated unraveling as Helen and Lorna attempt to blackmail the wealthy Lingate family, setting off a chain of events that leads to multiple deaths and revelations that shake the foundation of Helen’s identity. The truth about Sarah’s death—and who Helen’s biological father truly is—emerges in fragments, as each character reveals their version of that fateful night in 1992.
Hays expertly balances tension throughout, creating a story that feels both claustrophobic in its island setting and expansive in its examination of how the past echoes into the present. Her pacing is deliberate, with revelations metered out with precision, building to a climax that manages to both satisfy and unsettle.
Characters: A Gallery of Beautiful Monsters
The novel’s strength lies in its morally complex characters, each capable of both tenderness and terrible acts:
- Helen Lingate – A captive of her family name, Helen is both victim and perpetrator, seeking freedom while unable to resist the gravitational pull of wealth and privilege. Her gradual awakening to her own capacity for ruthlessness forms the emotional spine of the novel.
- Lorna Moreno – Helen’s accomplice and Marcus’s assistant, Lorna serves as a fascinating foil to Helen. Where Helen was born into money but lacks freedom, Lorna was born into poverty but possesses a survivor’s instinct that Helen both envies and fears.
- Richard Lingate – Helen’s father (or is he?) has spent three decades convinced he killed his wife, his guilt shaping both his New Age affectations and his controlling relationship with Helen.
- Marcus Lingate – Richard’s older brother manages the family’s declining finances while harboring secrets that could destroy them all.
- Naomi Lingate – Marcus’s wife emerges as perhaps the most dangerously possessive character, her jealousy and financial control forming the toxic center of the family’s dynamics.
The characters form a closed ecosystem of dependency and resentment, each feeding off the others in ways that feel psychologically true, if morally appalling. Hays excels at showing how money warps relationships, turning love into possession and truth into performance.
Themes: The Corrosive Nature of Wealth and Family
“Saltwater” by Katy Hays is aptly named—it preserves, but it also corrodes. Throughout the novel, Hays explores several interconnected themes:
- The illusion of wealth РThe Lingates maintain a fa̤ade of old money while secretly being broke, highlighting how class performance becomes a prison even for the privileged.
- Maternal absence – The void left by Sarah’s death shapes Helen’s entire life, making her vulnerable to both manipulation and a desperate hunger for connection.
- Identity versus performance – Characters repeatedly don masks or impersonate others, raising questions about how easily identity can be traded or stolen.
- Family as both sanctuary and prison – The refrain “Family, family, family” becomes increasingly sinister as Helen realizes how the Lingates have weaponized blood ties to maintain control.
- Survival at any cost – Perhaps the most disturbing theme is how women in particular must adapt, transform, or even kill to survive in a world where they are viewed as disposable.
Setting: Capri as Character
Hays transforms Capri from a tourist destination into a psychological landscape. The island—with its vertiginous cliffs, hidden caves, and Roman ruins—becomes a perfect externalization of the novel’s themes:
The novel expertly juxtaposes luxury against danger—five-star hotels and designer boutiques against sheer drops and ancient sites of cruelty. The fact that Capri was once home to Emperor Tiberius, who murdered on a whim by throwing people from cliffs, adds historical resonance to the contemporary story.
Equally effective is Hays’ depiction of wealth as its own enclosed ecosystem—the private yachts, exclusive parties, and invitation-only ballet performances creating a rarefied atmosphere where normal rules of morality seem suspended.
Writing Style: Elegant, Cold, and Precise
Hays writes with a detached elegance that perfectly suits her material. Her prose is clear and cutting, with occasional bursts of startling lyricism:
“Capri is funny that way—a place you come to be seen and a place you come to disappear. So many big names around that you can slip into the background if you want to, or push yourself to the front.”
The multiple perspectives—Helen, Lorna, Sarah, Naomi—create a kaleidoscopic view of events, each character’s version slightly distorting the truth. This technique serves the novel’s themes of perception and deception beautifully.
If there’s a weakness, it’s that the voices occasionally blend together, with characters sometimes sounding too similar in their observations. Additionally, some readers might find the level of cynicism exhausting—there are few moments of genuine warmth or connection amidst the Machiavellian maneuverings.
Comparative Context: Literary Lineage
“Saltwater” by Katy Hays joins a distinguished tradition of novels exploring wealth’s corruption and family secrets in exotic locales. It owes debts to:
- Patricia Highsmith’s psychological suspense, particularly in its morally ambiguous protagonists
- Donna Tartt’s “The Secret History” in its exploration of privilege and violence
- Jean Rhys’ “Wide Sargasso Sea” in its examination of female identity and reinvention
Readers who enjoyed Hays’ debut “The Cloisters” will recognize her talent for creating atmospheric settings and characters operating in rarefied worlds, though “Saltwater” trades art history for family history and moves from Gothic Manhattan to Mediterranean noir.
Final Verdict: Compelling Yet Unrelentingly Dark
“Saltwater” by Katy Hays is a sophisticated, well-crafted novel that will linger in readers’ minds long after they’ve finished it. Hays has created a story that functions on multiple levels—as mystery, as family drama, as psychological thriller, and as critique of wealth and privilege.
However, its relentless darkness and moral compromise may alienate readers seeking characters to root for unambiguously. There’s brilliance in Hays’ portrayal of a world where everyone is complicit, but it makes for an occasionally exhausting read.
The novel’s greatest achievement is its complex portrayal of female survival. From Sarah to Lorna to Helen, we see women making brutal calculations to secure their freedom, raising uncomfortable questions about what we might do in similar circumstances.
Strengths:
- Atmospheric setting that enhances the psychological tension
- Complex, morally ambiguous characters
- Sophisticated structure that gradually reveals the truth
- Unflinching examination of wealth, family, and identity
Weaknesses:
- Some character voices could be more distinct
- Unrelenting darkness might be too cynical for some readers
- A few plot points require substantial suspension of disbelief
For readers seeking a literary thriller that doesn’t shy away from moral complexity and offers no easy answers, “Saltwater” by Katy Hays delivers a sophisticated, unsettling experience. Like the gold snake necklace at its center, it’s beautiful, dangerous, and impossible to look away from—even when you suspect it might be a clever fake.
