3.5
The Salt Eaters
ByPublisher Description
A community of Black faith healers witness an event that will change their lives forever in this "hard-nosed, wise, funny" novel (Los Angeles Times).
One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years
Set in a fictional city in the American South, the novel also "inhabits the nonlinear, sacred space and sacred time of traditional African religion” (The New York Times Book Review).
Though they all united in their search for the healing properties of salt, some of them are centered, some are off-balance; some are frightened, and some are daring. From the men who live off welfare women to the mud mothers who carry their children in their hides, the novel brilliantly explores the narcissistic aspect of despair and the tremendous responsibility that comes with physical, spiritual, and mental well-being.
One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years
Set in a fictional city in the American South, the novel also "inhabits the nonlinear, sacred space and sacred time of traditional African religion” (The New York Times Book Review).
Though they all united in their search for the healing properties of salt, some of them are centered, some are off-balance; some are frightened, and some are daring. From the men who live off welfare women to the mud mothers who carry their children in their hides, the novel brilliantly explores the narcissistic aspect of despair and the tremendous responsibility that comes with physical, spiritual, and mental well-being.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Salt Eaters Reviews
3.5
“wowwww Bambara is a poet in her writing, taking us through a dream but also a prophecy. as black people we are always seeking the cure and treating the symptoms of apocalypse of our world. I love how she thinks about what a reckoning/healing looks like, how our power
comes from within (“our back closet”) to without. I enjoyed Velma’s perspective as a black woman for the cause, her struggles with carrying the weight of her movement, experiencing misogyny in doing the work but not getting the credit, the spiritual weight of feeling like your holding the whole world on your shoulders. Yet, this power of the promise of a thunder, a revolution, a rapture, a big change, and how it can come from you..”
“This book was difficult for me to read. The writing is beautiful and it evoked a lot of feeling, but I do struggle a great deal with books that don't have much of a plot. My attention tends to wander or I feel lost. I had to read basically one chapter a day. This is kind of how I feel when I read poetry. The words and feelings are powerful but ultimately I feel like I've missed an important part of the message.”
About Toni Cade Bambara
Toni Cade Bambara is the author of two short story collections, Gorilla My Love and Seabirds Are Still Alive, and a novel, The Salt Eaters. She has also edited The Black Woman and Tales and Short Stories for Black Folks. Her works have appeared in various periodicals and have been translated into several languages. She died in 1995.
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