A House Between Sea and Sky
Cato sets her historical fantasy in 1920s Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Fayette, a writer for the silent movies whose creativity is stymied by grief, escapes to the seaside town to find her muse and restart her life. To clear her thoughts, she heads out for a walk on a dark and exceedingly stormy night and stumbles upon Rex, one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, in need of a risky rescue.
When writer and actor take shelter in a strange but welcoming house, they unknowingly wake up old magic, some of it wicked and lethal—and some of it intriguingly not. There’s also the magic that’s been part of Fayette’s family for generations, a preternatural sourdough starter named Mother (there’s humor here along with symbolism). Fayette blames Mother, perhaps unfairly, for her many familial losses and must come to terms with the strengths and limitations of this novel character.
How Fayette and Rex protect each other and navigate the supernatural dangers and offerings that the house and Mother drag them into forms the action of this engaging and enjoyable novel. Cato draws on Russian folktales as well as her powerful imagination and baking expertise to develop her tale’s magical elements. She deploys her fantasy to build themes of friendship based on listening and genuine respect, the advantages of found family, and the need for shelter—metaphorical and tangible.
Appropriately enough, A House between Sea and Sky reads like homemade sourdough fresh from the oven—that is, comforting and delightful, even nourishing to the soul—but with the right amount of danger and excitement found in crunchy crust and the challenge of a well-developed chewy crumb.
