powerful backdrop of adventure on the high seas, and drama on the land. The Blue Salt Road balances passion and loss, love and violence and draws on nature and folklore to weave a stunning modern mythology around a nameless, wild young man.Passion drew him to a new world, and trickery has kept him there - without his memories, separated from his own people. But as he finds his way in this dangerous new way of life, so he learns that his notions of home, and your people, might not be as fixed as he believed."
Harris understand storytelling and the deep emotional and moral power of the folk tale tradition. Like all the best artists, she takes the base but makes it wonderfully her own in this rich tale. She takes you there, to the wide strand by the ocean, the poor village, the whaling ships, and into the water itself, to a part of the world where both the Folk and the Selkie live. Although the story centres on one couple, slowly the wider picture emerges of a reality that’s different to anything we imagine at first, yet absolutely believable. Her characters are alive. Their good traits and their bad; nothing is painted in black and white, not even love. It’s a very human story, as all the best ones should be, one that ends with bittersweet hope, and an unexpected twist. There's redemption and reclamation, along with every shade of emotion, and that, along with a lovingly-told story, is what makes it such a compelling read, with magic treading lightly between the words.
Overall, a really intriguing story from one of my absolute favourite authors. I love the beautiful way she has with prose and she never fails to take me someplace else. I always feel deeply human after reading her books. This is a story of change, betrayal, forgiveness, identity, belonging, anger, loss and love.
Age Rating 14+ Nothing untoward, a few mild allusions to sex and the horrors of whaling.
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