kruu_dao's review
I really didn't get very far into this book at all. My timing was awful really - I had just DNFed my last beach read and this one was too similar for me to persue. A blue and white sea related cover, a priest and a mystery. Now, I know that the title having the word Madonna in it should have been a clue, but I really think I could have managed it if it had stayed in one (non-priest) perspective. The moment it switched over, it reminded me of the other novel, and I couldn't continue.
notasilkycat's review
3.0
That was really good the first third of it. Then a story suddenly turned into a screenplay, diluted a little with way to many dreams. Pity really because of a great promise and setting.
readingtimeatthezoo's review
3.0
Set in the early 1990's on a remote island off the coast of Western Australia, this book started with such promise for me. I was intrigued by the story of a small community, isolated from the mainland, and the disappearance suddenly of a young teenager from school.
The writing style was beautiful and captivating and I was genuinely enjoying this but then unfortunately for me something got lost around the half-way mark. I started to lose focus and the story line seemed to take off on a strange tangent that I just couldn't digest.
Religion features heavily in this book but in a frightening cult-like way where the towns people literally seem to become possessed by this need to be saved by something greater than they can understand.
The story is narrated by Hannah who has returned to the island as her mother is terminally ill. I was drawn into Hannah's story, which seemed to be begging me to understand why things on the island had happened the way they had. I felt as though as long as I stayed with Hannah all would make sense in the end, but again, unfortunately for me, it didn't, and the ending left me with more questions than I started with.
Thank you Pan Macmillan Australia and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.
The writing style was beautiful and captivating and I was genuinely enjoying this but then unfortunately for me something got lost around the half-way mark. I started to lose focus and the story line seemed to take off on a strange tangent that I just couldn't digest.
Religion features heavily in this book but in a frightening cult-like way where the towns people literally seem to become possessed by this need to be saved by something greater than they can understand.
The story is narrated by Hannah who has returned to the island as her mother is terminally ill. I was drawn into Hannah's story, which seemed to be begging me to understand why things on the island had happened the way they had. I felt as though as long as I stayed with Hannah all would make sense in the end, but again, unfortunately for me, it didn't, and the ending left me with more questions than I started with.
Thank you Pan Macmillan Australia and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.
shelleyrae's review
DNF
I’ve read about a third of this but it’s not holding my interest and I’m finding the writing overblown rather than evocative. With my ability to focus marred by current circumstances I’m choosing to put this aside for now.
My apologies to the author, and publisher. It’s me, not you.
I’ve read about a third of this but it’s not holding my interest and I’m finding the writing overblown rather than evocative. With my ability to focus marred by current circumstances I’m choosing to put this aside for now.
My apologies to the author, and publisher. It’s me, not you.
jem_of_the_brew's review
My review of this book can be found on the ArtsHub website here: https://www.artshub.com.au/news-article/reviews/writing-and-publishing/jemimah-brewster/book-review-the-salt-madonna-by-catherine-noske-259848
aplace_inthesun's review
3.0
The Salt Madonna details the return of Hannah Mulvey, a school teacher, to her childhood home on Chesil (fictitious island that could be anywhere off the coast of western or south Western Australia) to care for her ailing mother. The book is set in 1992.
Upon her return one of the students in her class, 14 yo Mary gets pregnant and with a bizarre, cultish feel, the island and it’s inhabitants are convinced Mary will bare the child that must be the result of an immaculate conception.... because no one is owning up to being the father of the child. Neighbours are all a-Twitter and visitors come to the island to view Mary and lay hands upon her in the hope they will be healed.
And then Mary goes missing, not once but twice.
It’s generally a quiet and slower moving book. About two thirds of the way in I really noted how I was appreciating the complexities of the characters and the detail as well. But I was waiting for something to happen ....
The pace seemed to be the biggest adjustment for me as has been my experience with works of literary fiction. I can appreciate the quality of the writing and the issues at hand, however with most suspense novels at a bare minimum you get an a-ha moment or an understanding of where things ended up.
I appreciated the questions asked in this one - what is real, what is perceived, what is imagined? What do people need to believe? It seems a lot in this book was the opinion of the narrator Hannah, her perception of what she thought had happened, and the reader is left with more questions than answers.
I think there will be a number of readers expecting one thing with this book (the presence of a crime and a miracle), when reading they are presented with something else. It’s wonderful and beautifully written, I’m just not sure if I missed something in the reading that would have made me enjoy this one more. I felt that the inhabitants of the island were searching for something they could not find and I was searching for something as well that was just out of my reach.
I think lovers of literary fiction will appreciate this book. I also think if readers do not go in expecting a thriller-esque or suspense novel they will be better placed to enjoy it.
Thank you to Pan Macmillan Australia and Picador for sending me a copy of The Salt Madonna.
It has a stunning cover that does lend itself to an eerie, tragic feel.
Upon her return one of the students in her class, 14 yo Mary gets pregnant and with a bizarre, cultish feel, the island and it’s inhabitants are convinced Mary will bare the child that must be the result of an immaculate conception.... because no one is owning up to being the father of the child. Neighbours are all a-Twitter and visitors come to the island to view Mary and lay hands upon her in the hope they will be healed.
And then Mary goes missing, not once but twice.
It’s generally a quiet and slower moving book. About two thirds of the way in I really noted how I was appreciating the complexities of the characters and the detail as well. But I was waiting for something to happen ....
The pace seemed to be the biggest adjustment for me as has been my experience with works of literary fiction. I can appreciate the quality of the writing and the issues at hand, however with most suspense novels at a bare minimum you get an a-ha moment or an understanding of where things ended up.
I appreciated the questions asked in this one - what is real, what is perceived, what is imagined? What do people need to believe? It seems a lot in this book was the opinion of the narrator Hannah, her perception of what she thought had happened, and the reader is left with more questions than answers.
I think there will be a number of readers expecting one thing with this book (the presence of a crime and a miracle), when reading they are presented with something else. It’s wonderful and beautifully written, I’m just not sure if I missed something in the reading that would have made me enjoy this one more. I felt that the inhabitants of the island were searching for something they could not find and I was searching for something as well that was just out of my reach.
I think lovers of literary fiction will appreciate this book. I also think if readers do not go in expecting a thriller-esque or suspense novel they will be better placed to enjoy it.
Thank you to Pan Macmillan Australia and Picador for sending me a copy of The Salt Madonna.
It has a stunning cover that does lend itself to an eerie, tragic feel.
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