A review by finalgirlfall
As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

okay, so i didn't really understand what was happening in a lot of this book. i thought mccann's efforts to historically situate the characters were like, well-intentioned, but probably ultimately failed, for the most part. (though i haven't done any research into the period/ideas surrounding the third english civil war, so i'm not certain that my ideas about how people thought back then are actually founded in reality.)

there's a section in the book, in the chapter "bad angel", where jacob is recounting a conversation he had with ferris in the army. he says:
Perhaps one day I would be able to tell him everything, even that I was that detested being, a ravisher. I knew Ferris would not admit that her being my wife changed the case. He had already expressed himself more than once on this subject, and said no man might force a woman, no not his wife, for that it took away her bodily dignity. Whenever he talked of it he clenched his fists and jaw, and I at first concluded he must have witnessed many instances among the soldiery; yet when I asked him he said it was a thing, thank God, that he had never seen for himself.


that section in particular struck me as (probably) not grounded in the reality of the time. but this was definitely an interesting, albeit brutal, read that gave me a lot to look into on google scholar! 
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