The Moorings of Mackerel Sky by MZ

“Arresting, lyrical, and deeply emotional… will captivate readers of Alix E. Harrow’s The Ten Thousand Doors of January.” — Booklist (Starred Review)

“An enchanting tale of grief and hope… as powerful and sparkling as the sea.” — Emily Jane, bestselling author of On Earth as It Is on Television

Some towns are built on rock and timber. Mackerel Sky was built on a love story. Three hundred years ago, Captain Burrbank moored his tall ship on a Maine cliff the moment he glimpsed Nimue the Mermaid — and never left. That act of breathless devotion became a settlement, then a community, then a legend that still pulses through every lobster trap, every tide, every whispered rumor.

But legends have teeth. In this debut novel steeped in magical realism and quiet dread, the myths of Mackerel Sky press close against the lives of its very human inhabitants. Gruff widow Myra. A boy running from a broken home. A pitcher who writes secret poems to his secret boyfriend. A woman who insists she gave her child to the women in the waves.

This is a book about what small towns protect — and what they swallow whole. About grief wearing the shape of folklore. About love, in all its stubborn, inconvenient forms.

If you’ve ever stood at the edge of the water and felt like something was looking back, this one is for you. It belongs on the shelf right alongside the salt air and the sound of the tide.

A stunning, sea-soaked debut. We’re so glad it found us.

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