A review by niaforrester
The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate
5.0
This is the kind of book I most love to read. Just amazing on all fronts. The plot unfolds mostly in the emotional lives of the characters, all of whom live with sadness and regret. The word that I would use to describe this book, if I had just one word, would be "mournful". Martha Southgate did an incredible job of showing the corrosive effect that addiction can have on families, individuals and the love between a man and woman. I felt Josie's struggle as she tried to live a life that rose above the scars of growing up with an alcoholic father; and later, her struggle to distance herself from a brother, Tick, whose life is plagued by the same demons and who seems hell-bent on self-destruction.
I loved the quiet way in which Southgate shows that Josie's determination to disconnect from her dysfunctional past only leads to further disconnectedness in her present, and in her marriage. I ached for Josie because she couldn't bring herself to acknowledge her pain, enough to even truly feel it. And her being drawn to the silent weightlessness of being underwater I understood perfectly, even though its not a feeling I can relate to.
But because the book was so incredibly sad, I'll need a fair amount of recuperation time before I attempt to read more of this author's work.
I loved the quiet way in which Southgate shows that Josie's determination to disconnect from her dysfunctional past only leads to further disconnectedness in her present, and in her marriage. I ached for Josie because she couldn't bring herself to acknowledge her pain, enough to even truly feel it. And her being drawn to the silent weightlessness of being underwater I understood perfectly, even though its not a feeling I can relate to.
But because the book was so incredibly sad, I'll need a fair amount of recuperation time before I attempt to read more of this author's work.