“Of Women and Salt”–Review

A daughter’s fateful choice, a mother’s complex past, and a family legacy that begins in Cuba before either of them was born.

From 19th-century Cuba to present-day Miami, this story revolves around three groups of women: Maria Isabel, Cecilia, and Dolores; Carmen, Jeanette, Elena, and Maydelis; and, Gloria and Ana.

Carmen is a Cuban immigrant who has struggled with a past trauma, all the while dealing with a difficult relationship with her daughter, Jeanette, who is battling a drug addiction. When Jeanette suddenly takes in a little girl after discovering the girl’s mother was detained by ICE, Jeanette is curious about her own family’s history. But Carmen refuses to discuss it. Jeanette, eventually, takes it upon herself to travel to Cuba in hopes she’ll get answers from the grandmother she never knew.

From the cigar factories in 19th-century Cuba to present-day detention centers, from Cuba to Mexico, each of the women’s stories speak of their traumas, as well as difficult decisions, and how it has made them who they are.

While I do like the occasional historical fiction novels, I’m not sure how I feel about this one altogether. The women’s traumas made for a good story, but I think there were too many conflicts crammed into one, and I feel I may have missed something else in the story. I could be wrong. It was still a good storyline, but I give it at least three stars.

*I received this early copy in exchange for n honest review. Feel free to post your comments. Happy reading!

*Of Women and Salt will be available on April 6, 2021.

About the author: Gabriela Garcia is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award and a Steinbeck Fellowship from San Jose State University. Her fiction and poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, Tin House, Zyzzyva, and The Iowa Review. She is the daughter of immigrants from Mexico and Cuba, and she grew up in Miami. Of Women and Salt is her first novel. For more info, click here.

“Come Forth in Thaw”–Review

Good evening, bloggers, and Happy first day of March! I’m looking forward to new reads. In the meantime, I recently read Jayson Robert Ducharme’s latest book, so here’s the description:

The Adrienne Forest State Park is one of many, beautiful state parks in the White Mountains. It is a popular destination for tourists, painters, hikers, and even weddings. Yet the forest is also a place of great pain and torment, and is an equally popular destination to end your own life.

The only thing young mother Eleanor Jackson has left in her life is her son, Alan–a troubled teenager who has gone to the forest to commit the unthinkable. As Eleanor goes to find him in the forest, she witnesses bizarre and fantastical happenings that try to manipulate and distract her from rescuing her child. When the sun goes down, the specters of the tormented emerge. She will come to discover so much more than just her son.

Based on Japan’s Aokigahara Forest, also known as Suicide Forest, near Mt. Fuji, this novella talks about not only suicide, but the realities of trauma, loss, and mental illness. The twist toward the middle of the story caught my interest even more. I took a few guesses as to how it would go down, yet I wasn’t even close. It was still worth the read, and I look forward to more stories by the author.

Feel free to post your comments. Happy reading!

About the author: Jayson Robert Ducharme is the author of over 40 short stories, ten novellas, and two novels. His work has appeared in the New Hampshire, Science Fiction and Horror editions of Z Publishing’s America’s Emerging Writers series. His collection of novellas Come Forth in Thaw is available for purchase on Amazon. For more info on the author, click here.