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Book Review: The Salt God’s Daughter by Ilie Ruby & Giveaway (US only)

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The Salt God’s Daughter by Ilie Ruby is a novel that weaves the mythical with reality but at it’s core it’s about the complexities of mothers and daughters and the relationships they have with each other.

Diana is the type of woman who can’t set down roots and when you’re the mother of two young girls that’s not a good thing. Ruthie and Dolly live a crazy life with their mother. They are always on the go with no home to speak off, they don’t go to school, they don’t eat properly, their mother is a drunk, and even worse they are told on a regular basis that they’ve ruined their mother’s life. Yet the girls are resilient and as all young kids they still love their mother and no matter what Diana does keep her family together.

The bulk of the story focuses on Ruth and later on her daughter Naida. Ruth has faced many tragic circumstances in her life but one in particular when she’s a teen changes the course of her life forever. When she’s left with a baby daughter to care for on her own she goes back to the one place she was happy for a while as a girl. At that time it was a motel but later was turned into a retirement home for old folks. It is there that Ruth finds her calling. She has a compassion and knack for caring for those that nobody else wants to anymore.

Naida is brought up at the retirement home and grows to believe she’s this beautiful, perfect child because that’s what her mother and all the old folks tell her. But Naida has a birth defect that will turn out to have a harsh effect on her formative years and leave her bullied and alone. Being left on her own without friends Naida learns to live in her dreamworld where she’s happy, perfect, and with her father. Unfortunately this obsession with her father and his world leads her to do some pretty dangerous things when it comes to the sea.

The thing that holds strong between mother and daughter is Naida’s father. Ruth had loved him with everything she had but he was a wanderer – a sea man. He came and went like a breeze on the wind. He would show up bruised and battered and tell Ruth that he was fighting to protect the animals. When he disappears for an extended time and comes back wanting to know Naida, Ruth tells him not to come back again. Naida, though, grows up idolizing him and the sea. While her mother has always been terrified of the water, Naida feels a powerful pull towards it. Her imagination tells her that her father wants her and that he and her sisters are waiting for her out there. Will Naida live her life with her mother or will the pull of the sea ultimately be too much for her?

The Salt God’s Daughter is without a doubt a beautifully written novel. So much so that I found myself going back over passages a few times because they resonated so much with me. I enjoyed the folklore weaved throughout the story a great deal and while it’s a complex tale in it’s telling, it is also a captivating one. If you enjoy novels that are deep and beautifully written then The Salt God’s Daughter by Ilie Ruby is one you should read!

 

GIVEAWAY DETAILS (US only)

I have one copy of The Salt God’s Daughter by Ilie Ruby to share with my US readers.  To enter…

  • For 1 entry leave me a comment entering the giveaway.
  • For 2 entries, follow my blog.  If you already do be sure to let me know so I can pass the extra entry on to you as well.
  • For 3 entries blog or tweet this giveaway.

This giveaway is open to my US readers only (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on Saturday, September 22/12.  Good luck!

Source: Review copy provided by SparksPointStudio. No compensation was received and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  19. I love books like that; that are so wonderfully written you want to read certain passages several times. Thanks for the giveaway!

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    lafra86 at gmail dot com

  21. I have read such good reviews about this book and I would love to read it. It is on my TBR list.

  23. I have heard really good things about this book and am excited to get a chance to read it. Thanks for the opportunity to try and win a copy!

  26. Sounds like a very interesting read, especially how it ties into the folklore of the sea, as well as the impact of a birth defect that a young child is not quite aware that she has. What an incredible mind.

    Please note that I follow you (subscribe) via email and look forward to your insightful reviews!

  27. Lovely review! I will post this in my blog’s sidebar. Thanks for hosting this giveaway. I’m a follower.

    suko95(at)gmail(dot)com

  28. I won this one online and I can’t wait to read it. Great review Dar. There’s a ‘Naida’ in this story?! Lol, I’ve never read a book where a character shares my name.

  41. I loved this book too, and have heard that some compared it to Housekeeping, but I think it excels in that regard. I am so glad that you liked it and that you gave it such a glowing review. It was a read that I didn’t want to put down.

  50. I loved your review. It sounds like a very intersting and moving story. It has a really nice cover. Thanks for having this giveaway.

    ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net