The Salt God's Daughter -

Ilie Ruby

Soft Skull Press

2012

352 páginas

11h 44m

ISBN-13: 9781619020023

Set in Long Beach, California, beginning in the 1970s, The Salt God's Daughter follows sisters Ruthie and Dolly as they struggle for survival in a place governed by an enchanted ocean and exotic folklore. Guided by a mother who navigates their lives by her imagined, elaborately-told stories of the full moons drawn 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 mother's stories.

Caught up in the riptide of a culture that both demonizes and glorifies female sexuality, the early death of their mother leads them to run wild at night in the search for belonging and love. In time, Ruthie reaches the first real home she has ever known, Wild Acres, an old hotel on the beach surrounded by glowing tides and the spirits of sea animals, which she calls the sisters. There, she falls in love with a mysterious man of the ocean. Ruthie's daughter, Naida, is born into this magical landscape with a secret she tries to keep hidden. Bullied by her peers, she embarks on the search to uncover the true source of her gifts and her secrets.

Imbued with a Scottish folktale and hints of Jewish mysticism, The Salt God's Daughter examines the tremulous ties between generations, the power of stories and inherited memory, and the enduring strength of maternal love that transcends the limitations of this world and beyond.