About Rose Sutherland

Born and raised a voracious reader of anything she could get her hands on in rural Nova Scotia, Rose has an overactive imagination and once fell off the roof of her house trying to re-enact Anne of Green Gables. She’s continued to be entertainingly foolhardy since, graduating theatre school in NYC, apprenticing at a patisserie in France, and most recently, moonlighting as an usher and bartender in Toronto. She loves big cities, but often wishes she could live by the sea all the time. Her hobbies include yoga, dance, signing, searching out amazing coffee and croissants, and making very niche jokes about Victor Hugo on the internet. She is mildly obsessed with the idea of one day owning a large dog, several chickens, and maybe a goat.

A Sweet Sting of Salt (2024)

When a young woman in 19th century Nova Scotia uncovers a magical secret about her neighbour, she’ll have to fight to keep the truth—and the woman she loves—safe in this stunning queer reimagining of the classic folktale The Selkie Wife.

When a sharp cry wakes Jean, the sole midwife in Barquer’s Bay, Nova Scotia, in the middle of the night, she’s convinced it must have been a dream. But when the cry comes again, Jean ventures outside during a terrible tempest and is shocked by what she discovers—a young woman in labour, barely able to speak a word of English. Jean can only assume she must be Muirin, the new wife of her neighbour up the road, but when the baby arrives, Jean is only left with more questions. Why is the baby so unusual? And why is Muirin's husband so fearful of his wife and newborn son spending time by the sea?