<![CDATA[The Salt Roads]]>

false <![CDATA[The Salt Roads]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170466761m/57498.jpg 57498 2 In beautiful prose, Nalo Hopkinson's The Salt Roads tells how Ezili, the African goddess of love, becomes entangled in the lives of three women. Grief-powered prayers draw Ezili into the physical world, where she finds herself trapped by her lost memories and by the spiritual effects of the widespread evil of slavery. Her consciousness alternates among the bodies/minds of several women throughout time, but she resides mostly in three women: Mer, an Afro-Caribbean slave woman/midwife; Jeanne Duval, Afro-French lover of decadent Paris poet Charles Baudelaire; and Meritet, the Greek-Nubian slave/prostitute known to history as St. Mary of Egypt. Ezili becomes entangled with Mer because the midwife's prayers helped draw her into the mortal world. The novel presents a reasonable, though undeveloped, connection between Meritet/St. Mary, the Virgin Mary, and the goddesses of Africa. However, it's not clear why Ezili becomes entangled with Jeanne Duval. This is because The Salt Roads is sketchy, its three storylines compressed; the novel reads more like three novellas incompletely braided. This is a shame, because each mortal character's life could have made a fine, full, fascinating novel by itself. John W. Campbell Award winner Nalo Hopkinson's first novel, Brown Girl in the Ring, won the Warner Aspect First Novel Contest and the Locus Award for Best First Novel. Her second novel, the New York Times Notable Book Midnight Robber, was a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Philip K. Dick, and James Tiptree Jr. Awards. The Salt Roads is her third novel. --Cynthia Ward 1095855 1 11 2004 The Salt Roads total:116|5:35|4:50|3:22|2:7|1:2| 116 457 222 17 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Thu Oct 22 10:23:53 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 15:44:24 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Oct 02 05:05:11 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 10 04:20:59 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 02 05:05:11 -0700 2008 Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor (Mama Day and Bailey's Cafe) and Octavia But...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Aug 18 06:50:47 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 18 07:01:34 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jun 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 16 06:00:21 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 30 09:51:24 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Feb 27 13:52:51 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 27 14:00:37 -0800 2008
i love how well planned everything was. the story weaved between multiple points of view and multiple points in history. an african goddess kept watch over all of the characters, bringi...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Sat Mar 15 08:38:34 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 15 08:38:34 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Sep 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 31 12:15:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 10:47:31 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Dec 23 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 11 07:20:54 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 23 19:34:51 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Jun 18 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu May 22 08:20:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 18 14:35:48 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Aug 11 11:08:15 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 27 07:32:13 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 11 11:08:15 -0700 2008 1 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 03 04:26:55 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 03 04:29:11 -0800 2008 Toni Morrison wannabe, but poorly written. Some original ideas, but didn't manage to pull them off.]]> 4 0 false false Sun Apr 01 10:11:13 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 09 10:50:27 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Jun 20 16:17:39 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 20 16:19:12 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Sat Oct 06 12:35:31 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 06 12:36:23 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Wed Nov 05 17:08:44 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 05 17:10:08 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Mon Dec 31 12:43:44 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 31 12:44:29 -0800 2007 3 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Jan 11 08:38:57 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 11 08:39:18 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Sat Nov 21 15:28:58 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 21 15:28:58 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Nov 20 17:51:11 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 20 17:51:11 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 19 11:40:14 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 11:40:14 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=57498