Synopses & Reviews
Review
Praise for
The Salt God's Daughter"Propulsive, mythic, and rhythmically mastered . . . a singular beautiful
knock-out work of fiction about love and the evolution of identity." James Ragan
Synopsis
Set in Long Beach, California, beginning in the 1970s,
The Salt Gods Daughter follows Ruthie and her sister, Dolly as they carve out a life in a place filled with natural beauty, meteorological myths, and exotic folklore. Raised by a mother drawn to the ocean and guided by the moons, their heritage is a mystery and their mother often absent, forcing the two girls to confront the social and sexual mores of the time on their own, caught in the riptide of a culture that alternately glorifies and demonizes female sexuality. Ruthie's daughter, Naida, is born into this conflicting landscape with a secret she tries to keep hidden, bullied and harassed by her peers as she seeks out the father she never knew. Woven with a traditional Scottish folktale and hints of Jewish mysticism, this examines how far well go to find our place in a world that is often hostile to those who are different.
Synopsis
"Beautifully evokes scenes of two girls adrift in the . . . bohemian beach culture . . . a breathtaking, fiercely feminine take on American magical realism." --Interview Magazine
Set in Long Beach, California, beginning in the 1970s, The Salt God's Daughter follows Ruthie and her older sister Dolly as they struggle for survival in a place governed by an enchanted ocean and exotic folklore. Guided by a mother ruled by magical, elaborately-told stories of the full moons, which she draws from The Old Farmer's Almanac, the two girls are often homeless, often on their own, fiercely protective of each other, and unaware of how far they have drifted from traditional society as they carve a real life from their imagined stories.
Imbued with a traditional Scottish folktale and hints of Jewish mysticism, The Salt God's Daughter examines the tremulous bonds between sisters and the enduring power of maternal love--a magical tale that presents three generations of extraordinary women who fight to transcend a world that is often hostile to those who are different.
"Indeed, Ruby has written a complicated, multi-layered work that shifts shapes to bridge the relationship between tragedy and redemption." --The Huffington Post
"Three generations of indelibly original women wrestle with the confines of their lives against a shimmering backdrop of magic, folklore, and deep-buried secrets . . . To say I loved this book is an understatement." --Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author
"The selkie myth lies at the heart of Ruby's second novel . . . This is a bewitching tale of lives entangled in lushly layered fables of the moon and sea." --Kirkus Reviews