Salka is a passionate retelling of a haunting myth, a tragic romance that echoes through the ages. Faber will publish Salka: Lady of the Lake in April 2025.

Francesca’s first novel for an adult readership is an exquisite and tautly moving tragedy told by multiple voices, both a richly woven retelling of an ancient Welsh myth and a thought-provoking drama for our times.

The moment I saw her face.

The moment I heard her siren song . . .

Salka, the faerie Lady of the Lake, can’t help but appear to Owain, a shepherd who has already captured her heart. He needs only to see her to fall deeply in love. But her father has one condition on their marriage: if Owain strikes her three times she must return to the Lake forever. Owain doesn’t realise there are many ways to strike a blow to the heart. Despite their married bliss, Salka is not like the other inhabitants in this small village. Gossip turns against her and as prejudice and suspicion breed, Owain finds himself wishing his wife was more ordinary, that she tried harder to fit in, that she was less . . . herself.

What is more of a strike than to question her very nature? The first heart-blow is struck. And now, desperately, their future lies in his hands . . .

Francesca Simon’s first novel for an adult readership is a tautly moving tragedy told by multiple voices, both a richly woven retelling of an ancient Welsh myth and a thought-provoking drama for our times.