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The Taste of Salt

by Martha Southgate (Goodreads Author)

3.38 of 5 stars 3.38 · rating details · 980 ratings · 204 reviews

Award-winning novelist Martha Southgate (who, in the words of Julia Glass, can write fat and hot, then lush and tender, then just plain truthful and burning with heart ) now tells the story of a family pushed to its limits by addiction over the course of two generations.
Josie Henderson loves the water and is fulfilled by her position as the only senior-level black scienti...more

Paperback, 272 pages

Published September 13th 2011 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

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2011's Best African American Literature

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Jul 04, 2012 Trice rated it 5 of 5 stars

Having grown a bit weary of literary fiction featuring black characters saddled with slave narratives, civil rights-era plights, or unspeakable acts of abuse, I felt relieved to find this contemporary novel centered on an everyday, middle-class family dealing with the uneven dynamics surrounding addiction, and the coping mechanisms they employ in the name of emotional survival.

Josie Henderson's lifelong love for the ocean has translated into a successful career in marine biology. Now settled ne...more Having grown a bit weary of literary fiction featuring black characters saddled with slave narratives, civil rights-era plights, or unspeakable acts of abuse, I felt relieved to find this contemporary novel centered on an everyday, middle-class family dealing with the uneven dynamics surrounding addiction, and the coping mechanisms they employ in the name of emotional survival.

Josie Henderson's lifelong love for the ocean has translated into a successful career in marine biology. Now settled near the Massachusetts shore with her similarly employed, white husband, Daniel, she has finally escaped the broken, blighted despair of her Ohio hometown, keeping both her emotionally absent, alcohol-dependent father and post-rehab, wayward brother at a comfortable distance.

Notions of class, gender, and race are incorporated into the story in an organic way, never feeling forced. That Southgate has gifted Josie with a career as a marine biologist -- certainly, not a position that we typically see being held by black, female protagonists -- initially piqued my interest in the novel. It is also worth noting that Josie is not written as a "white-washed" black woman, but as a driven, proud, confident one who rocks a natural and excels in her field, while struggling with her footing in a sea of white colleagues.

Southgate also inserts a handful of ocean-related metaphors, keeping things colorful and interesting. In cultivating my own relationship with the water these days, I found Josie's affectionate description of the ocean and of her isolated position on land, equally comforting and unsettling:

"Rolling in backward and letting the water close over my head... I was buoyed up and breathing... the fish would swim up and hover around me like jewel-colored birds or butterflies over a field. I love breathing underwater but still being safe, held, protected. I love the weightlessness. I never feel that the rest of the time."

Josie's attempts at fighting against her roots ultimately reveal her own deep-seated issues that a flight to White New England Suburbia cannot fix. Ironically, Southgate allows Josie to come alive as she circles back to familiarity -- the moments in which we start to witness her slow, painful slide through the cracks that begin to form in the perfect world that she has painstakingly constructed.

The Taste of Salt explores not only the complexities of addiction and its multipronged impact on the Henderson family, but the humanization of their struggle. Told through the voices of several characters, we receive a three-dimensional account of this complicated tapestry of events. Southgate has a gift of delivering beautifully intricate prose in this sad, but quietly sensual tale, artfully composed with heart and hope, that will reverberate in your bones, leaving you wanting more.(less)

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Apr 19, 2012 Desiree rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-ebook, poc-author-content, finished-and-reviewed, literary-fiction-by-poc-grp, read-ebook-format, read-on-nook-touch

As I was reading this two words came to mind (and remained ever present): train-wreck and tragic. This is a simple tale told through the eyes of Josie and you get to experience the story from her overarching perspective. It's also told in other voices (her mother, her brother Tick, her dad Ray & minor contributions from two other characters) but it's obvious Josie's voice serves as the center. Because it was in first person, the text felt very personal especially because it seemed Josie &...more

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May 05, 2012 jo rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: african-american

this starts off quite simply. a 30-something african american woman is a marine scientist at woods hall, which is a pretty groovy place in which to be a marine scientist. at first the novel focuses on this über-unusual fact, an african american woman, still young, as a senior scientist at a prestigious institution. so blah blah about her always being the only black person in the room, and sometimes even the only woman and in the room, and blah blah about how much she loves water and her job and...more this starts off quite simply. a 30-something african american woman is a marine scientist at woods hall, which is a pretty groovy place in which to be a marine scientist. at first the novel focuses on this über-unusual fact, an african american woman, still young, as a senior scientist at a prestigious institution. so blah blah about her always being the only black person in the room, and sometimes even the only woman and in the room, and blah blah about how much she loves water and her job and the fishies* and blah blah about how once she was mistaken for a cleaning person at a conference at which she was the presenter, yougetthepicture.

but then the scene changes entirely and she's back in cleveland, where she was born, to get her brother out of rehab and settled in their mother's basement. this brother, whom she loved terribly when they were kids, didn't grow up to be an educated man. he worked as a trainer for an NBA team (lebron's team!) till alcohol and drugs got the best of him and he had to drag his ass into rehab.

while working with his team (i don't remember the name, but everyone reading this is guaranteed to know the name of the cleveland basketball team, right?) tick (brother's nickname; josie doesn't have a nickname, only an abbreviation) has slid into "black" talk and now, as they drive home from rehab, this educated boy who didn't speak ghetto one day in his life growing up is all cool and groovy and vernacular.

so on the one hand you have the black girl that got away entirely, and on the other hand you have the family that stayed. and the gulf between the former and the latter is way deeper than ghetto talk or job choice or no longer living in declining cleveland. josie is profoundly distant from her family, and this distance seems pretty much insurmountable. something inside her has frozen and died and burned and withered and the way back seem irreparably compromised.

so josie discards her duty of seeing her brother settled and goes back to her academic life and her white husband.

this happens in the first third of the novel or less. the rest is a multi-voiced narrative that tries to give a history to the family disaster that pushed josie away and tick to addiction. and the beauty of this book is that it never, as far as i can see, pinpoints this disaster with clarity and precision. sure, josie's and tick's father turns out to have been an alcoholic for most of their lives at home. now, i must say that i don't know what it's like to live with an alcoholic, but the stereotypes -- violence, mostly -- are not there. ray comes home very late at night and when he's home he sits in front of the tv guzzling beer. on the day of his birthday, he disappoints everyone by getting drunk and not showing up for his party. so, above all, he is totally and irredeemably absent. and then his wife kicks him out, and his children cut off all ties with him, and it's over.

and to me, to this person who never had any experience with alcoholism, this doesn't sound too terrible, you know. so all through the book i experienced josie's profound distance (not only from her family but also from her husband and from herself), her refusal to talk about her childhood, her inability to relate to her family, as a bit of a mystery. and this mystery kept me entirely hooked, because it seems to me that families are made of feathers, and a little hit of breeze can easily upset delicate balances that remain upset for life. and this upset doesn't stay just like it was when the breeze broke, but it grows and grows and becomes its own thing and brings with it unforeseen miseries. and i was happy that martha southgate was able to represent this, the train wreck that sometimes results from breezes and feathers.

i want to add two things: one, that i haven't even begun to give away the plot. this is a dense and engaging story and i have said nothing of what happens. two, that i wish southgate had chosen to end the book differently. but it's okay. this book reminded me a lot of louise erdrich's superb Shadow Tag, a book that depicts a family that turns into a train wreck with breezes and feathers, too, and both books impress me greatly.

* dear martha southgate, scuba divers don't use oxygen tanks (those are for sick people), they use air tanks. you did that twice! tsk tsk. also, i don't think a marine biologist who studies marine mammals would talk so much of fish, but i'm going to leave that to the experts. (less)

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Nov 13, 2011 Justice rated it 5 of 5 stars

My Review (tread lightly, spoilers abound):
I received TToS from Jen, Devourer of Books, as the November Book Club read. I am happy I received it; I don’t think I would have picked this book on my own accord, and I think I would have been missing out. Southgate is a brilliant author, and I would like to read more of her work.

TToS tells the history of a family, told in several voices: Josie, our black female marine biologist; Tick, her recovering alcoholic brother; Ray, her recovering/recovered a...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Emily Zimmer rated it 4 of 5 stars

1. The Taste of Salt
2. Martha Southgate
3. This book is about a girl named Josie Henderson who is African American, a marine biologist in a white man's working environment. Throughout the book Josie struggles to be heard by not only her coworkers ,but her family. As Josie grows up she learns more about not only herself but her brothers and dads experience with alcoholics.
4. A theme in this book is that life is an internal battle. A quote to support this is "He was never going to get what he need...more 1. The Taste of Salt
2. Martha Southgate
3. This book is about a girl named Josie Henderson who is African American, a marine biologist in a white man's working environment. Throughout the book Josie struggles to be heard by not only her coworkers ,but her family. As Josie grows up she learns more about not only herself but her brothers and dads experience with alcoholics.
4. A theme in this book is that life is an internal battle. A quote to support this is "He was never going to get what he needed." pg. 242 "And now, here, again, here, his sister couldn't save him, his mother couldn't save him, his father couldn't save him, no one could save him. What was there to be saved?" pg. 242 These two quotes further exemplify how life was an internal battle for Tick, Josie's brother. Tick was an alcoholic and struggled from being sober and his life continually an internal battle. Another theme of the book is that everyone makes mistakes. Josie's dad made mistakes his whole life because of alcohol but that doesn't mean he ever stopped loving her. She had to learn how to forgive him not only for herself to live on, but for her family to move on. "He had been the man he'd been for years, the man I refused to see. And when he took me in his arms, which he did without hesitation, he smelled good clean and present. I had never accepted a real hug from him; I didn't believe he could offer them. But I was wrong." pg. 261 This quote just further proves how if she could have seen her father like this many years ago then maybe they could have had a good relationship, but at least now she has realized he is there for her. Also with this quote, "'You're not alone anymore,' he said. 'I'm your father and I'm right here. You're not alone anymore." "'Do you believe me?'" "I offered a small nod. He squeezed my hand. 'I'm here when you want me baby,' he said. 'I'm here.'" pg. 268 This page of quotes further shows that her dad is there for her even when she doesn't believe that anyone is there for her. He will always be her father, there supporting her when she needs it. This book helped me realize a lot about my life in that family is extremely important and that if you ever need support, they are always going to be there for you. Even when you mess up big time. Family is the key to a happy life.
5. I believe that high school students would really enjoy this book. It took a while to understand what is going on or what the real meaning behind the book is, but once you figure it out it gives you a new perspective on life and it could really change how you think of your family. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to read, because the underlying meaning is worth reading the book.(less)

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Jan 10, 2013 Mandy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ok, I'm going a little bipolar with my review. I would like to say this book had all the makings of something great, however it fell flat. The story at hand didn't stir emotion. It did not get me close to the characters and it didn't take me on a journey thru this family's life, as was intended.

What I did like...was an African American family being shown to me in a positive light, as a normal family struggling like most do. I love that they are all hard working educated people. I loved being ab...more

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Sep 11, 2012 Sheri rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: addiction, male-female-power-sex-attractivenes, race

I wanted to like this book. I loved the idea of Josie. She is the ice princess, the smart girl who works hard and gets herself out of a tough home situation (as a child of addicts who herself struggles with addiction and strives to walk the line between understanding and rejecting family I can empathize here when I normally won't).

There were some great passages:
"I'm afraid that I don't have enough to give, that I can't love a baby the way it needs to be loved. Sometimes I'm not even sure I hav...more I wanted to like this book. I loved the idea of Josie. She is the ice princess, the smart girl who works hard and gets herself out of a tough home situation (as a child of addicts who herself struggles with addiction and strives to walk the line between understanding and rejecting family I can empathize here when I normally won't).

There were some great passages:
"I'm afraid that I don't have enough to give, that I can't love a baby the way it needs to be loved. Sometimes I'm not even sure I have enough to give Daniel."
"He was good in bed; he had the kind of authority that you sometimes find in men who don't think too much."
"There's this hollow place in me--this place that needs to be alone, this place that vibrates and can't sit still....I've been like this for as long as I can remember. Sure that it's never going to work out. Sure that it's all my fault...that's standard issue for someone who grew up like I did--classic adult-child-of-an-alcoholic stuff..But so what? Given that, what the fuck am I supposed to do? I have to go on from where I am."
"I had a few friends but no one that I felt I could tell the truth of my life to."
"you had to let go, how you couldn't control the circumstances of your life, every now and then he still hoped that just staying away from that bottle would fix everything. That staying sober would be enough."

But then, the whole love affair with Ben was way too 6th grade for me: he puts on the Prince song that few people know and they make eyes across the room and she says "yeah" and it just read like a bad romance novel. And Southgate doesn't appear to understand the actual work life of a research scientist. People with PhDs who work in the field do not have "lunch breaks" per say from which they have to return at a certain time (despite Josie and Ben having "a little while before we have to get back" from their lunch).

As a book on addiction there were some good nuggets and I think Southgate makes an interesting point about how Josie (despite being the one who has it all together and is not on the surface an addict) is dependent on her own self reliance to a point that it is actually damaging her ability to live a healthy life. However, it was too simplistic and not believable in the daily life. Overall it was a good quick read, but nothing special.
(less)

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Jan 27, 2012 Arzella rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I decided to read this book, I chose it becasue of the cover and becasue I read the word "ocean" in the review. Ii was excited to see what a Black woman would write about the ocean. I have lived near the ocean my whole life. I love it and I love being in it.

Southgate delivers a story about the Black experieince. About coming from a working/middle class family and becoming something and becoming nothing at all. Most importantly it talks about the effects of substance abuse on a family. This...more

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Nov 02, 2011 Lissa Notreallywolf rated it 2 of 5 stars

I feel somewhat sad to report that I felt this book failed it's promise. There aren't many books about the African American middle class, and probably even fewer that deal candidly with alcoholism and addiction. My book club got all excited about it because of the backjacket blurb about an African American woman in the sciences-she's a marine biologist, a topic which takes up perhaps six pages here and there. Since I am about as comfortable in the water as your average house cat, I had a sense o...more I feel somewhat sad to report that I felt this book failed it's promise. There aren't many books about the African American middle class, and probably even fewer that deal candidly with alcoholism and addiction. My book club got all excited about it because of the backjacket blurb about an African American woman in the sciences-she's a marine biologist, a topic which takes up perhaps six pages here and there. Since I am about as comfortable in the water as your average house cat, I had a sense of challenge when she picked up the story with reports of diving with big sea critters-So make me love the water, I thought. But really it was a story about dissolution on several levels-the very thing I don't care for about immersion. And the character goes forward to loose herself in innumerable ways, failing to have an older and wiser point of view when relating her lack of presence. Someone suggested that this might be a redeeming quality-most books are not told with the fresh voice where the events are still undigested, unless of course you are reading current Young adult fiction. Personally I prefer it to this book because you anticipate that in a fifteen year old protagonist. The alcoholism depicted isn't coupled with the usual violence component-instead her father simply disappears into a beer bottle and the television. One aspect of the book I appreciate is that her character is so very thin, so evasive and this is realistic for some children of neglect, who are literally erased before they have a character.
I much preferred the male characters in the novel, even though they were alcoholic, drug addicted or possible workaholics. But it is hard to tell what they were because the narrator admits that she has written what she believes to be their stories, because she is trying to sequence the events. Her Brother Tick is the best person in the novel in my eyes, but that might be because she loved him best, and could see in to him better. I think I'll go read someone else's review to see if I missed something.(less)

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Oct 18, 2011 Adwoa rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Taste of Salt is a tour de force. The writing itself was mostly excellent, but what made it so strong for me personally was the way I felt both spoken to and skewered. Josie, the protagonist, is a ferociously (at times aggressively, defensively) smart woman.

She’s obsessed with the ocean, and has given it a sensual starring role in the otherwise buttoned-up, anhedonic way that she lives her life. This is not to say that her life is completely without pleasure. But it is to say that her relati...more

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Sep 23, 2011 Shannon rated it 5 of 5 stars

In The Taste of Salt, Martha Southgate has written a book that could be about me, my life and how I experience life. Depending on what your story is, you may not relate to the book as deeply and instantaneously as I did. Read it anyway.

The Taste of Salt is narrated by Josie Henderson, marine biologist, wife of a scientist, daughter of an alcoholic, sister of an alcoholic addict. It's the story of Josie's current life, but told partly through the lens of her entire story. And isn't that the way o...more

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Sep 11, 2011 KC rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

*Book obtained gratis via Goodreads First Reads giveaway*

Martha Southgate's novel "The Taste of Salt" dives into two generations of relationships entangled in addiction, self identity and relationships. Anchored by protagonist Josie Henderson, the story threads the voices and experiences of her immediate family, each of her parents as well as her beloved brother Tick.

The alcoholic father who was never there, the son who can't escape his father's disease, the brokenhearted wife and mother, and t...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I received this book as part of a first-reads giveaway.

Martha Southgate's novel The Taste of Salt got my attention from the first page and held it to the last. I enjoyed the first-person narrative style of the book, it made the novel feel authentic and real. The Taste of Salt is told from the point of view of Josie, a black woman and a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. It is also sometimes told from the point of view of her brother Tick who struggles with alchololism and addi...more

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Dec 14, 2011 Larry Hoffer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Josie is a marine biologist, one of only a few senior-level black women in her position at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. In achieving professional success, she has finally been able to free herself of her childhood in Cleveland, of her alcoholic father and addicted younger brother, and she can spend her time in the ocean, where she loves to be more than anything. But she has never fully disentangled herself from the trauma and disappointments of her childhood, and that has a ripple eff...more

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Feb 24, 2013 ~ mariya ~ rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone that has a friend/family memeber that's an alcoholic or wants to learn more about addiction

Shelves: african-american, affairs, drugs-are-bad-mmkay

3.5 out of 5 stars

This is a book about addiction - alcoholism, in particular, and the effects it has not only on the addict but on the whole family, passed down from generation to generation.

Our main character is Josie Henderson. Josie and her brother Tick grow up in a working class African-American family in Cleveland, Ohio. Their mother is a nurse and their father works in a car factory. Both of the children are smart and fortunate enough to attend a private school on a scholarship. As normal...more 3.5 out of 5 stars

This is a book about addiction - alcoholism, in particular, and the effects it has not only on the addict but on the whole family, passed down from generation to generation.

Our main character is Josie Henderson. Josie and her brother Tick grow up in a working class African-American family in Cleveland, Ohio. Their mother is a nurse and their father works in a car factory. Both of the children are smart and fortunate enough to attend a private school on a scholarship. As normal as their family seems on the outside, there are inherent problems within: their father, Ray, is an alcoholic. Ray starts out by drinking a few beers a night after work (seems like no big deal, right?) but over the years, he progresses into a full-blown alcoholic. Josie's mother goes through the stages of denial and anger at first, but then finally accepts that Ray is an alcoholic and leaves him during Josie's senior year in high school. It is only after Ray loses everything he loves that he decides it is imperative that he get sober and he starts attending AA meetings and slowly pulls himself out of the cycle of addiction that he is in.

Meanwhile, Josie starts attending college and becomes a marine biologist - truly, an anomaly in a field that is mostly dominated by white middle-aged guys. Josie soon marries a white scientist, Daniel, and settles into a life that also seems perfect on the outside, but is far from it. Although Josie never suffers from substance abuse, she finds herself addicted to the affections of Ben, an African-American coworker, recently split up from his girlfriend and on the rebound.

Then there is Josie's younger brother Tick who is himself soon addicted to alcohol, and even cocaine. Tick is on the brink of losing his job as a sports trainer for the Cleveland Cavaliers and he desperately needs help from his mother and Josie. He has been in rehab twice already and this is his last chance to kick his dangerous habit before it is too late for him.

Although I did like this book (the first two-thirds of it, at least) the story did fall flat for me towards the end. I couldn't connect and relate to Josie. As much as she claimed she loved her father and brother, her behavior didn't show it. Throughout the book Josie acts very cold and disconnected from her family. She puts herself on a pedestal (she is after all, a successful sober scientist) and looks down from it on Tick and Ray. But Josie isn't infallible like she thinks she is. She might not be an alcoholic but her actions cause others to feel hurt, such as when she (view spoiler). I didn't like Josie very much and I also didn't like the ending either. (view spoiler) So that's that, I suppose. Ultimately, this was an average book. It explored issues that I was interested in learning more about but it didn't delve into it as much as I had hoped. Some of it just felt false to me. This is a decent book for a bookclub, but don't expect too much from it. (less)

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Nov 17, 2011 Serena rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate is the tumultuous tale of Josie Henderson and her family. Josie is a successful scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, but the journey that helped her achieve her dream was wrought with sadness and anger. Her brother “Tick,” once her ally against their alcoholic father, has just emerged from another stint in rehab and seeking her help, which brings to the forefront everything Josie has tried to push aside and avoid.

The narrative begins in Josie’s...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Andre rated it 5 of 5 stars

Some have said this book is about addiction, I disagree. The novel is essentially about family and the dynamics surrounding familial communication or the lack thereof. So, potential readers don't let the "addiction" thing keep you from reading this book. You will be sorry you skipped it. Ms. Southgate is a very talented writer, and I hope she is headed for superstardom.

The story feels so real(I know it's a cliche)and flows so easily. Literally from page one you will be interested in the story t...more

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Sep 15, 2011 Hattie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love my family. Like most people I admit family is a very complex system. This truth came home to me once again while reading THE TASTE OF SALT by MARTHA SOUTHGATE. In this novel I met the Henderson family. There is Josie, the daughter. The son is Tick. There is Ray, the father. There is the mother, Sarah. Then, There is Daniel. He is Josie's white husband. Josie is Black. They are a biracial couple. For different reasons Josie's childhood was uniquely painful. Her father was an alcoholic. Sh...more
I love my family. Like most people I admit family is a very complex system. This truth came home to me once again while reading THE TASTE OF SALT by MARTHA SOUTHGATE. In this novel I met the Henderson family. There is Josie, the daughter. The son is Tick. There is Ray, the father. There is the mother, Sarah. Then, There is Daniel. He is Josie's white husband. Josie is Black. They are a biracial couple. For different reasons Josie's childhood was uniquely painful. Her father was an alcoholic. She would live to see her brother Tick fight the same disease. This is the way Josie describes herself and family.

"I am, in part, the sum of all who came before me, my parents and brother, their parents and siblings, and on and on, back onto the slave ships and then back farther, back to Ghana and the slave castles at Elmina and to wherever my ancestors were before that."

Josie's way of defining family, observing family made me realize that parts of our family, the why of it all, will always leave me with more questions than answers. It also left me thinking about who am I to judge how one person handles his/her pain versus how another person might handle circumstances. The family is like a huge, fun, hair splitting jigsaw puzzle.

I liked the novel because it's reality based. There is possibilities for success in life. There are possibilites for failure. With the best of intentions, some of us aren't going to make it through a complete life. On the other side of the balance sheet are the people like Ray who make it. They have fallen but have gotten up again successfully. For those who make it, what made their success possible? Was it a memory of a child? One time Ray remembered Josie.

"I'm so proud of her. When she was a little girl......I used to watch her out in the backyard....She could turn on the hose and watch that water run out of it for hours on end."

The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate is about addictions. There are all sorts of addictions. A person can become addicted to love. That's complicated too. Martha Southgate writes about Ben and Josie.

"I wanted to feel the way I felt--the way we felt--that first time we made love. That's an addiction, of course. But you can never get back that first high. You just keep looking for it, no matter how much damage you cause."

From Cleveland to Woods Hole, Connecticut Martha Southgate's novel is filled with the mysteries of life, the adventures of life. Life isn't a straight line. It's not a circle. Perhaps, it's an ocean. Like Josie, I might find the answers to life by studying the dolphins and whales.

"I had spent my life studying the life all around us in the water. I had spent my life sifting it through my fingers and considering the light, thin bones. I had spent my life this way, considering how the life all around us passes away. And now I would see it in a face I'd always known."

elmina (less)

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Nov 14, 2011 Michelle added it

The Taste of Salt is one of those novels that requires time to sit and stew on what was just read. The power of the novel only comes after the reader has had time to reflect. While it could be construed as depressingly realistic in its portrayal of family and addiction, there is an underlying beauty that rises to the top after time.

The name of the novel itself is a subtle hint to the pleasures and pain that await the reader. Salt itself can be delicious and necessary for life. At the same time,...more The Taste of Salt is one of those novels that requires time to sit and stew on what was just read. The power of the novel only comes after the reader has had time to reflect. While it could be construed as depressingly realistic in its portrayal of family and addiction, there is an underlying beauty that rises to the top after time.

The name of the novel itself is a subtle hint to the pleasures and pain that await the reader. Salt itself can be delicious and necessary for life. At the same time, too much of it can be deadly. Salt, in this instance, can symbolize anything that is simultaneously good and bad for you - family, love, booze. In this instance, Josie's own love of the ocean is both a hindrance and a boon for her. She uses her position to keep her distance from her estranged father and her beloved brother as he spirals downward. Yet, she also uses it to maintain a tremendous chip on her shoulder about her position as a lone black female in a white male-dominated field. This chip also impacts her relationship with her family and with her husband and prevents the reader from completely sympathizing with her.

No one in The Taste of Salt is completely without guilt at the eventual outcomes of certain plot points. Therein lies the strength of the novel, as it forces the reader to question his or her own relationships and biases that one carries and that impact those relationships. Ms. Southgate also shines a light on the messiness of family and how interdependent family members are on one another. One simple hurt can impact familial relationships forever. It is a stark reminder that family is all that one has in the end and that no matter how far one runs away from them, that link always exists.

The Taste of Salt is a deceptively simple novel that stays with the reader for a long time after finishing it. None of the characters are truly likable, but all readers can relate to Josie's struggle to find her place in her field and balance her need for her family with her disgust for what has occurred. Ms. Southgate captures brilliantly the lack of absolutes that surrounds familial love and guilt. The Taste of Salt is a must-read for those who are interested in a thoughtful novel about family and love.

Acknowledgements: Thank you to GLiBA for my copy!(less)

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Oct 17, 2011 Rosanna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Perhaps this was a four star read. It kept me turning pages and I finished it in a day.I was looking for more informatioon on why the father and the son both had addiction problems. There didn't seem to be sufficient reason for the father to just give up on his life and start to drink.He had a steady(if not fulfilling ) job in a car plant. His wife was devoted and caring individual. The son after a good education follows the same course.Is the author pointing out that addiction runs in the famil...more

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Sep 05, 2011 Mandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I received a copy via the goodreads first reads program.

This is a thought provoking account of a family dealing with alcoholism and drug abuse, normally I might have passed on this but I am so glad I read it. The narratives comes from several different perspectives and this makes it all the more interesting and endearing. This is another one of those books which seem to master the art of enabling the reader have sympathy, even for the most flawed characters.

Along with the alcohol and drugs issue...more

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Sep 26, 2011 Babydoll rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Henderson family is all too familiar with the claws of addiction. Despair and disappointment are not strangers amongst this family of four, plagued by the torments of substance abuse. The Taste of Salt is a compelling story that highlights the tribulations of addiction as well as the emotional, physical and mental effects it sustains on a family.

Martha Southgate created quite an intriguing read, with an equally captivating title. Throughout the narrative, salt is used metaphorically to desi...more The Henderson family is all too familiar with the claws of addiction. Despair and disappointment are not strangers amongst this family of four, plagued by the torments of substance abuse. The Taste of Salt is a compelling story that highlights the tribulations of addiction as well as the emotional, physical and mental effects it sustains on a family.

Martha Southgate created quite an intriguing read, with an equally captivating title. Throughout the narrative, salt is used metaphorically to designate the basic innate human yearning for love, acceptance, and nurture. Wikipedia describes the taste of salt as, “one of the basic human tastes”. Identified as a mineral, salt has several properties that help to regulate the body’s water content, electrical signaling in the nervous system, and consists of preservation and healing qualities.

The symbolic connection of salt is further accentuated by the description of the main character Josie Henderson. A scientist with an expertise in marine biology, Josie has always had an insatiable connection to the water and its salty quality. She is intrigued by the mystery of underwater life and finds solace surrounded by water. The brilliant yet quirky first born to Ray and Sarah Henderson, Josie departs her family in their hometown of Cleveland, Ohio to embark on a successful career and to leave behind the disturbing childhood memories of her drunken father as well as the power that alcoholism holds on her beloved baby brother Edmund “Tick” Henderson. However, when she is elicited by her mother to pick up her brother from his second stint in rehab, Josie’s perfectly controlled world begins to unravel. She will undoubtedly be forced to face the idea of forgiveness concerning her father, the unraveling of a marriage, and the disturbing depth of her brother’s illness.

The Taste of Salt is a rather short read, reaching 288 pages. I enjoyed the audacious lyrical prose that author Southgate used to create the narrative. Readers are given intermittent looks at the lives and thoughts of each character, as each chapter is assigned to a different character speaking in a first person narrative. Moreover, each character provides brief memories of the past that seem to highlight the origins of the family’s problems.

Although I felt that this book was quite a delightful read, I tend to appreciate a story that consists of intricate and detailed plot and character development. The main narrator, Josie Henderson, was developed into such a profound character, and the story ended at a significant period of transition in her life. As a reader, I desired to read more. For a rather quick read about the darkness of addiction, I recommend this book to others.

(less)

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Mar 02, 2012 Amiee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: where-are-you-reading-challenge, 2012

I had read The Fall of Rome by Martha Southgate about a year ago and then immediately read The Taste of Salt. But my bookclub picked it for my March read so I downloaded it again from my library and decided to re-read it. If I didn't enjoy Southgate's writing, I wouldn't have reread it! There are so many books I want to read that I only reread books that deserve a 2nd run...and this one does.

This is the story of Josie and her relationship with her alcoholic but recovering father, her addicted br...more I had read The Fall of Rome by Martha Southgate about a year ago and then immediately read The Taste of Salt. But my bookclub picked it for my March read so I downloaded it again from my library and decided to re-read it. If I didn't enjoy Southgate's writing, I wouldn't have reread it! There are so many books I want to read that I only reread books that deserve a 2nd run...and this one does.

This is the story of Josie and her relationship with her alcoholic but recovering father, her addicted brother, her mother, husband and coworker. Josie works in a predominantly while male industry. Through alternating viewpoints, she paints a vivid portrait of Josie's love of the ocean and her job, her thoughts on marriage and monogamy and intimacy.

Josie is an accomplished marine biologist raised in a hard-working middle-class family; her father is a retired auto worker (self taught from humble beginnings), her nurse mother is the daughter of a doctor. She and her younger, very good-looking and popular brother (Tick) bonded in early childhood as their father battles alcoholism. Josie immersed herself in books and extra-curricular activities to avoid a miserable home life. It is no wonder, that the same pattern of escapism continues into adulthood as Josie pursues a successful career and isolates herself from her family - physically, emotionally, and mentally. Unfortunately, Tick, having succumbed to alcoholism in his early teens, battles his demons and loses, hitting rock bottom (again). A turning point for Josie comes when Tick shows up at his sister's door forcing Josie to deal with her issues up close

The Taste of Sat looks at how alcoholism effects family. Its venom makes all loved ones victims destroying each relationship at various speeds. Although initially Josie seems to be the protagonist, the author tells the story in shifting first-person narratives from other key characters to provide insight into their heads and hearts. It is here in these snippets of memory we learn of difficult childhoods, broken dreams and disappointments and the never-ending hopes for healing. This could be anyone's story because pain and dysfunction are not bound by race; but, there are unique perspectives from black persons viewpoint that are skillfully rendered and factored into the story: their father's migration North from the Deep South, Josie and Tick's experiences at an all-white prep school, Josie's demand for respect and recognition in a profession dominated by white males and her interracial marriage.

This book really makes you think about family relationships, internal struggles, and how your actions can affect others.

4/5 stars(less)

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Sep 09, 2011 Ashley Lauren rated it 5 of 5 stars

My friend, Amanda, gave me an advance copy of The Tast of Salt a little while back, and I picked it up shortly thereafter because the cover looked pretty and I didn't have anything else to read. I am so glad I did. In this novel, Martha Southgate has woven an incredible tale of addiction and romance, family and friendship. She deals with issues of race and gender and relationships in a way that strikes true at the heart.

Josie Henderson is the only black scientist working with marine mammals in W...more

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Aug 24, 2011 Cathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

This was an enjoyable book to read. The author is very perceptive in her novel about flawed sibling and parent relationships and the relationships in this book were immediately relatable. I thought the characters themselves could have used a bit more fleshing out however. What was interesting about this book was that the author was able to so perceptively show the relationships between the characters and make the relationships feel very real and complicated without having characters that were to...more This was an enjoyable book to read. The author is very perceptive in her novel about flawed sibling and parent relationships and the relationships in this book were immediately relatable. I thought the characters themselves could have used a bit more fleshing out however. What was interesting about this book was that the author was able to so perceptively show the relationships between the characters and make the relationships feel very real and complicated without having characters that were totally 3 dimensional. The main character Josie is obviously the most 3 dimensional of the bunch, but there were definite passages in the book that could have used more fleshing out for the reader to get a better sense of her. Generally, my sense was that this book would have been better as a longer book. The ending was also a bit too subtle and while I appreciate subtle endings, I think maybe another chapter or two could have made it better. But these are minor quibbles because the book flowed well (with the one exception I will talk about below) and the relationships between the characters were sad, lovely, and realistic, and they made the book enjoyable.

The one non-minor problem I had with in this book was the use of Josie to narrate the other characters' first-person narratives. In other words, Josie would give a first person narrative about something that her parents or brother experienced (sometimes with asides from her interspersed that were random and jolting because everything was in the first person, but the asides were coming from her and the overall narrative was supposed to be coming from another character). Perhaps I missed the point of this but to me, it just seemed awkward and required more of a suspension of disbelief than I thought should be required in a book like this. Why not just have each character do their own first person narratives? The only thing I could think of was that the author was trying to show us more of Josie through these narratives, but I didn't think that was accomplished. The narratives only gave me a sense of the character that they were about, not about Josie. I think if the author just gave all of her characters first person narratives, it would make the book a lot better. This is no judgement on the author's writing though - she writes beautifully I think and her writing is really what made the book enjoyable to read, this is just more of a quibble with a technical structuring choice she made in the book.

Overall, I would recommend this book.(less)

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Nov 17, 2011 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars

Josie Henderson is a marine biologist who has always been fascinated with water. She has a good job and she’s married to a good guy; her life seems pretty ideal from the outside. Behind the scenes, though, it’s a different story.

From the back cover:

…as a senior-level black female scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, she is practically alone in her field. But in building this impressive life for herself, she has tried to shed the one thing she cannot: her family roots back in Cl

...more

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Oct 02, 2011 Alexis Villery rated it 5 of 5 stars

In The Taste of Salt, we get a picture into Josie's life at a point where her past connects with her present and forces her to stop ignoring her history, family, and choices. This is a complex story dealing with issues of addiction and alcoholism; yet, it is surprisingly easy to read. I found myself getting lost into Josie's story. Though events are primarily through Josie's eyes, the reader views her same story through other perspectives, but this technique is used sparingly. Though I didn't ag...more

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Jun 29, 2012 Karis North rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: overdrive

Somewhere I read a review of this book that peaked my interest so I was thrilled when I found it available via Kindle for the library. I kept on missing the check outs so I'd re-list the book and wait again, twice the 20th or 25th person on the list. Well it was worth the wait! Not that the book is great literature, but the main character who drives the narrative is compelling, interesting, and it is well written. Somehow I related to Josie, a smart African American woman making her way in a whi...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Vanessa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

Martha Southgate has written such a beautiful, haunting and complex novel that I loved! The language is enchanting and gorgeous, and she writes with emotion and care for her characters. This novel reminds me that no one is perfect. We are all human, and we all make mistakes. But sometimes our mistakes swallow us alive, sadly. There was a point in the book where I got so misty eyed, it really hit me hard. That's what a great novel does, it draws you in and resonates with you even after the last p...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Lisa Eckstein rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2011

This is an engrossing story, but not a light read. The main character is Josie, a marine biologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, where she's the only black senior scientist. Josie has distanced herself from her hometown of Cleveland and the memories of growing up with an alcoholic father. Life hasn't gone as well for her brother, who is getting out of his second stint in rehab. Josie finds she can't stay as disconnected from her family as she'd like and that her o...more

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About Martha Southgate

Martha Southgate is the author of four novels. Her newest, The Taste of Salt, is available in bookstores and online now. Her previous novel, Third Girl from the Left won the Best Novel of the Year award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was shortlisted for the PEN/Beyond Margins Award and the Hurston/Wright Legacy award. Her novel The Fall of Rome received the 2003 Alex...more

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“I was raised to respect books - the house was full of them. From the time I was little, it was drummed into our heads that books were almost the most important thing in the world, second only to getting a good education.” — 1 person liked it

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