Title: The Blue Salt Road
Author: Joanne M. Harris
First published November 15, 2018
215 pages, Hardcover
ISBN: 9781473222212 (ISBN10: 1473222214)
Rating: 3.91
Overview
The Blue Salt Road by Joanne M. Harris is a captivating tale of a young man’s journey filled with love, betrayal, and revenge set against the backdrop of the high seas and the vastness of the land.
The story begins with a mysterious earthly nourris singing a haunting melody about a nameless young man and his search for his lost memories and identity. Drawn to a new world by passion, he is trapped by deception and separated from his people.
However, as he navigates this perilous new world, he discovers that his notions of home and identity were not as clear-cut as he once thought. With stunning illustrations by Bonnie Helen Hawkins, The Blue Salt Road is a remarkable modern fairytale woven with the threads of nature and folklore.
About the Author
Have you heard of Joanne M. Harris?
She’s an author who writes under the name Joanne Harris. She’s well-known for her literary works and has gained a lot of popularity over the years.
Editoral Review
The Blue Salt Road by Joanne M. Harris is a stunning novel that combines folklore and fantasy to create a haunting tale of love, loss, and redemption.
Harris is a prolific writer who is best known for her novel Chocolat, which was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film. She has a unique talent for blending historical and cultural elements with fantastical elements to create engaging and thought-provoking stories.
The Blue Salt Road is a retelling of the traditional Scottish folktale of the selkie, a mythological creature that can transform from a seal into a human. The novel tells the story of a young man named Flora who falls in love with a selkie woman named Alys.
When Alys is captured by a human man and forced to become his wife, Flora sets out to rescue her, risking everything in the process.
The novel is set in a remote coastal village in Scotland, and Harris’s descriptions of the landscape and the sea are breathtakingly beautiful. The setting is an essential element of the story, as it creates a sense of isolation and otherness that mirrors the experiences of the selkie and other mythical creatures in the book.
Harris’s writing is vivid and lyrical, and she creates fully realized characters that are both relatable and otherworldly. Flora is a sympathetic protagonist, and his love for Alys is palpable throughout the novel.
Alys is a complex character, torn between her love for Flora and her duty to her selkie kin. The human man who captures Alys is a chilling antagonist, and his treatment of her is a commentary on the abuse and exploitation of women that continues to plague society.
The pacing of the novel is slow and deliberate, allowing the reader to fully immerse themselves in the world of the story. The plot is well-crafted, with several twists and turns that keep the reader engaged.
The themes of love, loss, and redemption are universal, and Harris explores them with nuance and sensitivity.
One of the strengths of The Blue Salt Road is its connection to Scottish folklore and mythology. Harris has done extensive research into the selkie myth, and she incorporates this knowledge seamlessly into the story.
The novel also touches on broader issues such as environmental degradation and the exploitation of natural resources.
Overall, The Blue Salt Road is a beautifully crafted novel that will appeal to fans of fantasy, folklore, and mythology. It is a haunting and evocative tale that will stay with the reader long after they have finished reading it.
While the pacing may be slow for some readers, the quality of the writing and the depth of the characters more than make up for this. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a thought-provoking and engaging read.
Rating: 4.5/5
