The Gilly Salt Sisters

by Tiffany Baker

The author of the New York Times bestselling The Little Giant of Aberdeen County returns with a magic-tinged tale of dreams, family secrets, and betrayals on a New England salt farm.In the isolated Cape Cod village of Prospect, the Gilly sisters are as different as can be. Jo, a fierce and quiet loner, is devoted to the mysteries of her family's salt farm, while Claire is popular, pretty, and yearns to flee the salt at any cost. But the Gilly land hides a dark legacy that proves impossible to escape. Although the community half-suspects the Gilly sisters might be witches, it doesn't stop Whit Turner, the town's wealthiest bachelor, from forcing his way into their lives. It's Jo who first steals Whit's heart, but it is Claire--heartbroken over her high school sweetheart--who marries him. Years later, estranged from her family, Claire finds herself thrust back onto the farm with the last person she would have her husband's pregnant mistress. Sudd

Genres: Fiction, Magical Realism, Historical Fiction, Book Club, Chick Lit, Adult, Audiobook

370 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Tiffany Baker is the New York Times bestselling author of The Little Giant of Aberdeen County. She lives outside San Francisco with her husband, three children, and tiny hyperactive dog. Her new novel, The Gilly Salt Sisters, will be released from Grand Central Publishing in March 2012.

Reviews

[Joanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first seventy pages of this book are quite good. The story is engrossing, and it moves quickly along. Unfortunately, the book is not just seventy pages long. It goes on, past the point of eagerly turning the pages, and unravels in a manner so completely uninspired that it feels like the author wrote this book in the manner of an ill conceived baking experiment - one where you just toss in anything you can think of, with no real consideration for how it's going to turn out as a whole.

Clare, the ostensible protagonist, is completely unlikable. In the first part of the book, she seems interesting, and the reader hopes that the story is going to be about her personal growth, or the ways in which she will become older and wiser. Spoiler Alert: it never happens. In a similar way, her husband is cast as the villain of the piece, but without any kind of depth, he is reduced to little more than a comic book caricature. If he turned up with a twirling mustache to tie someone to the train tracks, it would be no surprise.

The book builds to an ending that has the reader initially wondering how all the lose ends will be tied up, only to discover that they are not going to be tied so much as burned to the ground.

And, rather than have to pay any kind of price for 1)starting the fire that originally burned her sister so severely that she is now scarred over most of her body and has a glass eye 2) marrying a man that she did not love so that she could leave her family behind and have lots of money 3) doing her best to sink her sister's salt business 4) being generally horrible to everyone in town 4) seducing her ex-boyfriend who is now a priest 5) purposely and with malice aforethought burning down a salt barn again to 6) kill her husband and 7) also kill his mistress, albeit accidentally - she gets to live happily ever after with her ex-boyfriend who leaves the priesthood for her and raise the baby that the mistress gave birth to. In a word: ugh.

Also, the author seems to have trouble keeping track of the ages and emotions of the characters, which jump and change from page to page. The best thing about this book is its descriptions of the salt marsh, but as beautiful as they are, it still doesn't make this a worthwhile read.

[Green Gables · Rating 3 out of 5]

*spoilers*

I wish I could give the first 90% of this book 4 stars and the last 10% ONE star. The majority of the book was well-written -suspenseful plot with interesting characters. The ending was rushed and too quaint -visitors from all over the world?! a man regains his lost sense of taste?! Turner House becomes a visitor center??!

And Claire Gilly must be one of the most clueless and unintentionally narcissistic women ever. A self-centered teenager that maims her sister (refusing to even donate butt tissue for a skin graft *le gasp*), steals and marries her boyfriend, ruins the family business, tempts a priest out of priesthood and kills her husband and his mistress. And her penance for all of this? She marries Ethan and adopts Jordan! Seriously??? It's like the ending of those horror movies where the secret, evil killer smiles at the camera and the audience knows there's more terror to come. But I guess the book did mention that her bright crimson hair dulled a bit and she got a bit thicker around the middle as she got older. *eyeroll*

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A beautiful cover for a dark and moody book where I did not forsee anything pleasant transpiring if I judged from the first seventy-five pages. The book was overwhelmed by a darkness that felt not at all like what I have experienced in Cape Cod nor living on a salt marsh in New England. Granted to a non-tourist, Cape Cod was, in the 1970s was probably a struggle.

Yet, I was holding out; something had to change. But a sad bitter character was then eclipsed by her bitter and vindictive sister, and then a pathetic teen destined for nothing terribly positive. I held out right until, reluctantly, the protagonist decides she has to take the task of "drowning the feral kittens." That is my limit no matter what the book.

Even had that not been the case, the book seemed an indulgence in depression and a place where actions were taken without any conscience or as the sister Claire thinks about burning her barn down and nearly killing her sister with a careless flick of her wrist. If the behavior is not vindictive it is as if the characters have no control over their bodies' behaviors. The prose is well-crafted but offers a bleak landscape.I originally requested the book because it seemed there would be a paranormal element, but never saw any.

[Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Gilly Salt Sisters was one of those books that took me FOREVER to read. I don't really know what it was about it. My overall feeling towards it was generally positive. It just wasn't one of those books that really grabbed me and held me and made me never want to put it down.

The book revolves around the mystical power of the salt that the Gilly family produces. This concept is never really fully explained though. Is it really magical or is the entire town just reacting as though it is? Are the Gilly women witches? Is the land cursed or bewitched? It was all questioned in the book, but never really answered. I guess that was left up to the reader to decide. I suppose that would make it a good book club book.

Personally, I didn't accept the relationship that developed between Claire and Dee. I don't want to give out any spoilers here, but they are the least likely of friends and they end up living together. I didn't buy it. Claire's return to the salt farm was a little bit of a stretch for me too. Despite the circumstances that brought her back, it didn't seem like she would so easily return to something that she had been fighting so hard against for so long.

Like I said though, my overall feeling toward this book is positive. The setting of a New England salt farm was unique. While the first half of the book was somewhat slow, the second half was a lot more interesting.

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't really like it. It was very dark, which I can deal with and I like a dark book once in a while. But it must include at least one character I can relate with or like. This did not. I did kind of feel sorry for Jo though, she suffered a lot due to Claire and her selfishness. I think I disliked Claire the most. So, I really don't recommend it. Also, the scene with the drowning kittens really bothered me. I don't care if that was a spoiler or not. On to better things!

[Prom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was one that I had to read gently. I felt that it deserved that kind of reading mindset. It wasnt particularly enticing or gripping. It didnt really leave me wanting more, yet it wasnt alltogether satisfying. It was a bit slow going and the parts that were intriguing, there just wasnt enough of. But something about it kept me turning the pages and drinking in the lives of the Gillys and the Turners.

I am a huge fan of fantasy and stories of witches and witchcraft. I picked this up because I thought it was going to be about witches, but that was just something the town would say just to have something to say. I started reading this book instantly forming my endearments to the characters I could find myself in or ones I completely hated. Only to be proven wrong by the end of the book. If anything, this book was a reminder to definately not judge someone for whats on the outside or what you think they have that makes their lives so great.

Im not sure that I would read it again or even suggest it for someone, but Im glad that I read it.

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked Little Giants of Aberdeen County and I love books with magical realism but this promising book did not deliver. Too many of the characters were unlikable and never grew, sometimes regressing in a way that made no sense. The feud between the Gillys and the Turners was never fully explained so it didn't really cause any tension for me. The backstory of the town's history with salt and lack of Gilly men seemed like it would have a lot of storytelling potential but this book just did not work. I'm also sick to death of women being saved from ruin by starting a business to sell their unbelievably tasty baked goods. Ugh.

The hostile narration didn't help but I don't think I would have liked this in print either.

[Shirly · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was pretty awful. None of the protagonists were even a bit likeable, the plot wasn't moving or riveting and honestly, I was just reading to get to the (anti climatic) end. I have a hard time leaving any book in the middle, and I was sorely tempted because honestly, I don't care what happens to Jo, Claire, or any of the bit characters here. Also, more than you have ever wanted to know about the process of making salt. Endless text about harvesting it, messing with it - wow, that was so boring. There is a right way to do this kind of thing - think of The Secret Life of Bees and the moderate, lovely descriptions of dealing with honey - but this was just so overly descriptive, and repetitive. Do not read this book unless you are out of your mind fascinated with the salt process.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The Tuners and the Gillys, old family residents of Prospect, a village in Cape Cod. The Gillys belong to the salt, salt is the magical element in this book that ties everything together, and the Turners want to own the whole town. Loved the character development in this novel, how they change with the circumstances and the trials they face. Shifting alliances, secrets revealed and tragedies, kept me reading to the end. Love magical realism when it is done well and this one certainly was. Will appeal to fans of Alice Hoffman, Aimee Bender and Sarah Addison Allen. Now I need to read Baker's first book.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a lot of great elements to this book: a reclusive woman who everyone fears, her wild and snobby sister, a small town with lots of quirks, a mysterious "spell" cast over the Gilly family, just to name a few. But Baker got so lost in describing the love scenes and affairs that she forgot what story she was really telling. In fact, the author even contradicts her own timeline in parts, which makes things confusing.

In the end, we don't really know what the curse of the salt is all about. With a little tweaking (and a lot of editing), this could have made a wonderful book.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

*SPOILER ALERT* I read Baker's 1st book and really liked it, so I was excited to see you had written a new book. This story had the same feel with the mix of mysticism, romance & the complexities of human relations. It was good. I didn't like it as much as Baker's first book, but it was good overall.

The ending was disappointing to me. Having Whit & Dee die in the fire that Claire started just ended things abruptly. It would've been interesting to find out how Whit would react to Dee's proposition, so she and her baby could start a new life. Plus, I would've liked to learn more about Whit and where he was coming from in his passionate desire to buy Salt Creek farm-- why it was so important to him to try to follow what he felt was his dead mother's wishes.

Plus, I thought it was disappointing that after all Ethan's efforts to live a disciplined life of a pastor to suddenly leave it. It's not like he hadn't left Claire to go into the ministry, so I don't quite understand how their night of passion made such a difference that he decided after all the years to leave the ministry.

Plus, I felt like Claire never really recognized her self-centeredness when it came to the impact that the fire she caused affected Jo's life. And she was go gung ho on having a baby of her own that she caree more about Dee's baby than Dee. Yeah, Dee was no saint, but Dee was young and came from a rough background herself.

The ending left me feeling like some key things were left unanswered.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the very beginning of this book I questioned the whole premise of the "power" of the salt and the town's reluctant respect for it. (I kept thinking of parodies where the magical element would be flour/wheat or oregano or something.) The melodramatic, black and white portrayals of the characters and the Gillys' backstory felt manufactured and overwrought. If magical realism is going to work for me, an author has to entwine the magic with the setting and characters in such a way that it feels genuinely plausible, even if it is farfetched, and that didn't happen here. This felt like an old-fashioned gothic novel with all the accompanying unbelievable plot twists in a (relatively) modern 1970s setting, and it was an awkward mix. On top of all that, it's a pretty straightforward Alice Hoffman knock-off. And I have to add, how many times can a female character who's going through a rough time be redeemed through cooking and thereafter make a living out of of her brilliant recipes??? I'm sick to death of that plotline.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second Tiffany Baker novel. That one was 3 stars as well. I liked this one, but I didn't love it. The cover was beautiful. The title was intriguing. The author had some lovely descriptions that helped define the people and the place. She has a way with words that is beautiful.

There were just a couple of things that made this 3 stars and not 4. The characters were hard to rally behind because I didn't like any of them until I was 3/4 of the way done. The second thing was the complete turn around of the younger sister. She basically wasted her life until faced with something big. Then she finds herself, but it was so out of the realm of what the reader was given. While I like that idea of change and growth, it didn't come across as believable.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gilly Salt Sisters takes place in a small New England town similar, if not just, Falmouth...near Woods Hole. Of course the original New England colonies were not only populated by puritans and those pious believers in the straight and narrow path, but they were seasoned by island peoples...slaves from the Caribbean, from Africa and from other exotic places where superstition and "witchcraft," magical and mystical things followed them. These characteristics were met with the same that underpined some of those who fled England and Scotland, as well. In Massachusettes, Salem had experienced the witch trials...the areas of Cape Cod and up as far as Gloucester were aware of these things. The people of New England don't easily forget~it's in their blood. Who wouldn't be influenced by the Gilly Salt Sisters?

In this novel (and in actuality, as a matter of fact) the salt's unique properties, historic and mystical to begin with, were given a reverence~they were fraught with healing powers, the power to keep and preserve foods and meats, originally the power to exchange like money, to season cooked foods; and, quite mysteriously to change the well-being of businesses and the over all climates of the town. Only the Gilly family and specifically the Gilly women were capable of handling the harshness of the salt marsh, harvesting it and controlling the delivery of the salt throughout the town and region. They were afforded a sort of begruding prominence and fearsomeness in town. Their ability to throw their own bag of salt into the yearly, autumn bonfire to predict the future of the town in a sort of ancient festival, solidified the superstition and mysticism that surrounded them; that made them weird and outcast.

Within this confine of prejudice and their wild, muddy marsh of a farm life, Jo and Claire Gilly grew up and struggled with their fates along with their single mother. They are marvelous characters as different as Cain and Able. Jo the Abel of the two: dark-haired, faithful to the marsh and salt, protective of loved ones, strong and rough around the edges. And, Claire; the Cain, weak in spirit, red-haired and tempermental, selfish, working to tear down the salt and all it represents in the town and to her past. Gloriously well developed characters that stand up in realism. So real in fact, that you believe they're actual people.

Throughout the book we find abberations in the tale, however, that changes all perceptions. The men and women involved with the Gillys aren't always what they appear to be and the lives of the Gillys and townspeople overlap in a multitude of ways. All this causing their histories to intersect for good and for bad. This is a story rich in family dynamics of love and betrayal, mystery and revelation, mysticism and romance. The sea and the marshes that hem them in play against the gothic themes an cause the book to take on a dark tone...so like Poe in some instances.

Tiffany Baker knows how and when to pull the strings that deepen our connections with her characters and the momentum surrounding the Gilly Salt Sisters. The spector of mystery and revelation hangs before us as she builds and hints and drops us through Jo's discoveries. But even as the other charcters are brought in and layers are developed, we still remain in the dark until the climax of the book.

I love this kind of mystery mixed with a grand and sweeping tale of a family that mysteriously winds its way through a history. A family unwittingly repeating itself until somehow it finally finds a way to break the bond that held it captive. And through that freshly broken wound restores something of itself through a healing, a new trust, a new love and life of hope. Even though grief and punishment remain behind. Even though some of the connections are thin and come from wild roots.

The Gilly Salt Sisters is a great book in the order of a sort of Jane Smiley's "Thousand Acres," but I think it's richer and it's dug into more detail. I loved the book and hope you get a chance to read it very soon!

5 stars!!

Deborah/TheBookishDame

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jo and Claire Gilly live on a salt farm. The townsfolk believe that the sisters are bewitched and so is their salt. Jo loves the salt. On the other hand, Claire hates the salt and would do anything to get away from it. Thus the reason that she married Whit Turner. Whit first had his eyes on Jo but Claire went in for the kill and married him.

Jo and Claire will learn just how strong a sisters bond really is when Claire is forced to move back in with her sister and Whit’s pregnant mistress.

I read The Little Giant of Aberdeen County and enjoyed it. So when I learned about Tiffany’s new book, The Gilly Salt Sisters I knew I had to check it out. Wow. This book was way better then I thought it would be. I loved the Gilly sisters.

In the beginning, I bonded with Jo but by the end I had fallen in love with both Jo and Claire. Claire really her true colors ad just what a Gilly sister is all about in the end. This is what I loved about her. She was feisty just like the “red” of her hair. Jo and Claire reminded me somewhat of Sally and Gillian. Sisters from the movie Practical Magic that were played by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. The ending was a happy one. The Gilly Salt Sisters is an enchanting, must read. Besides you don’t want to go against the salt.

[K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is phenomenal.The best I have read all year. As a wash-a-shore living on Cape Cod, I love the true Cape feel it has. The story is amazingly real and the characters are down-to-earth and real. Its heartbreaking and honest must read!

[SheriC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stories of intricate family relationships and secrets are usually very interesting to me, but the pacing dragged so much at times that my attention frequently lagged. Overall, a pretty good story, with fairly complex personalities and an interesting setting. The male characters were the main weakness - the author mostly dwelled on the female characters, so the guys were mostly in place as two dimensional plot drivers.

Audiobook, borrowed from my public library via Overdrive. Angela Brazil's narration was serviceable, but her tendency to care-full-y e-nun-ci-ate her words was distracting.

[Rowizyx · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mm... Fifty-fifty.

Mi è piaciuta la storia e così i personaggi femminili, la loro mancanza di grazia - ciascuna a modo suo - le loro imperfezioni. È un libro molto particolare. Tuttavia c'è qualcosa nello stile e nelle ripetizioni che mi ha reso fastidiosa la lettura. Quante volte ci viene detto che Claire rema contro alla sorella sostenendo che il sale sia tossico? Quante volte che Chet il pescatore è l'unico a continuare a comprarlo? Non so, non mi è sembrato neanche un romanzo così corposo da aver bisogno di questi remind così frequenti. C'è qualcosa nello stile che non mi convince, perché spesso le informazioni (specie quelle ripetute) avrebbero bisogno di essere presentate in maniera diversa, visto che sono riportate dalle diverse voci narranti, e invece si rimane spesso su un registro unico, che dà la sensazione del fango della salina, come se i personaggi non riuscissero a emergere. Al contrario, a volte da un paragrafo all'altro le intenzioni e le percezioni dei personaggi sono quasi opposte - specie su Dee - da apparire incoerenti.

Forse è un effetto voluto, una resa letteraria del sale non raffinato venduto dalle donne della famiglia Gilly, tuttavia lascia uno strano retrogusto. È davvero come il sale: serve a esaltare il gusto di ogni cosa, ma in quantità eccessive copre ed amplifica tutto fino a trasformare un buon sapore in una cacofonia eccessiva in bocca.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since the weather here was cold and rainy, a book set in a gloomy salt marsh sounded perfect. This book was so well written I could easily imagine the Gilly sisters and their old salt farm on the sandy marshes of Cape Cod. The characters are also very well written -- especially Jo. Though she's written as an old grump, her love for her family land and her sister shine through. She didn't feel like a martyr. Every character has pretty major flaws, but I empathized with them even though I loathed Dee and her down right stupidity. {Teenagers. What can you do?} The content was well written and interesting. Baker took a setting I knew nothing about and made it almost...magical. I'm not sure whether the salt is magic or not and I don't think the villagers or the Gilly sisters knew themselves.

I have two complaints with this book. In the middle of the book, Claire suddenly takes up an interest in baking. I get it...salt is awesome on food. I salt my ham...but her sudden interest in baking up a storm and working when she previously was lazy as all get out seemed out of character for me. The end of the book {or what I thought was going to be the end} was totally surprising and very dramatic in true Gilly sister fashion. However, it then dragged on and on and on. It covered 30 years in a matter of pages and felt like that Lord of the Rings movie {I can't remember which one...} where you think the movie is going to end, then the screen goes black and then fades in to wrapping up another story line. I liked that Baker was trying to cover all the loose ends, but...I wish she would have stuck with what felt like a solid ending. I don't mind a few loose ends as long as it isn't an obvious ploy for a sequel or cheesy series.

Like dressing up for an evening out...sometimes it's best to leave a little to the imagination...

Overall, 3/5 stars for an interesting, dramatic read.

[Susannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my god. What an awful, awful book.

I made it to page 75, amd that took some doing. There are no redeeming qualities to any character, they are all horrible people who do horrible things, and the plot has more twists and turns that make absolutely no sense and go absolutely nowhere than a West Virginia coal mine.

Why in God's name would someone write such an awful piece of work? Are you kidding me? I loved The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, and really looked forward to getting into another of Tiffany Baker's stories. This was such a disappointment. No thank you.

[CDC · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one started out a little slow but got better as it went.
Not a happy story - but it held my interest till the end. I loved The Little Giant of Aberdeen County so I had pretty high expectations for this one, maybe my 3 stars is a bit harsh but I am sticking with it.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not really sure what my feelings are about this book and its characters. Just when I started liking a character they would do something horrible. The same can be said for the characters that seemed to have no redeeming qualities only to show me that I was wrong. It had me questioning my ability to judge.

[Stephanie Dudley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took over a hundred pages for me to get into the story, but then it took off and I couldn't put it down. I almost quit, but I am glad that I didn't.

[MARCIA · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like the ending at all.

[Raegan Hancock · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was good everything wrapped up very nicely a pretty happy ending in all not amazing but i did enjoy the read

[Blossom · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so good! A little different, which is a good thing in my opinion. This author is new to me, but I'll be on the lookout for more of her books.

[Cara Arver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not happy with the ending. It's a story that keeps giving just enough to keep reading without a lot happening. I couldn't put it down and the characters were fascinating.

[Nicholl McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gilly sisters have deep rooted, small town-style secrets to tell in this story. Some of which they share early on and others they hold on to until almost the end. A dense story that will require your full attention. Less magic and more tragedy than I had initially expected. A story that at the end feels like it needed to be exposed and brought to life to lift and release the darkness of it's secrets. A coming of age story for two sisters.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Gilly family business is salt. For several generations they have owned the property in a remote village of Cape Cod where they have built pits to hold ocean water until salt crystals form on the tops of the pooled water. They then carefully rake off the crystals and store it to sell to other locals. This is back-breakingly hard work, and apparently not very lucrative, as they are behind in mortgage payments and unable to buy new clothes or hire any help.



Maybe, or maybe not, but the Gilly women are thought perhaps to be witches, having special gifts to predict the future based on their relationship with the element of salt. They are tolerated, but not really accepted, by the locals.

The premise of this story reminds me of tales of Appalachia, with dreams and unseen powers intermixing with the knowable, seeable world, though it is set in modern times on the East Coast.

The Gilly sisters of the title are Jo and Claire, two girls who could not be more different. Jo works hard and is very much depended on by her mother from early childhood. Claire is several years younger, fairer skinned, and avoids working in the salt pools whenever she can. Her goal is to get old enough to leave the salt fields and never come back.

The narrative begins after the girls are grown and then shifts between the present and the past to fill in the back stories. As adults, they are estranged from one another. Jo is now alone, working steadily at collecting the salt crystals, but Claire has married into the wealthiest family in town and is determined to spoil the reputation of her family's special salt in the minds of the locals. Her marriage to Whit, who had originally been Jo's boyfriend, has soured. Whit's main interest now is figuring out how to acquire the salt fields for himself, but secondarily, he is looking for some action on the side and begins a flirtation with the waitress at the local diner that results in a pregnancy.

Claire's habitual self-centeredness hits a momentary wall when she happens onto Whit and 18 year old Dee, the pregnant waitress, who is telling Whit of the pregnancy and urging him to run away with her. Whit is apparently willing to kill Dee to keep her quiet, and the diminutive Claire is able to stop him, effecting an improbable rescue when she gets Dee up on Claire's horse and takes her to Jo's...Claire's first time back in the house since her marriage.

The Gilly sisters and Dee then become a team of sorts to protect Dee's unborn child from it's father, and to save the salt farm and the family homestead. The mysterious and previously unknown sins of an earlier generation are eventually unveiled as the sisters reconnect and build a future for themselves that would have seemed impossible, but for the emotional, physical and financial hurdles that they face and overcome together.

Again, a complex story set in an improbable place in time...maybe 200 years ago instead of now would have flowed better for me. And a relatively minor point: I was annoyed by how many times the characters "scowled". I read an ARC version, so I hope the editor suggested that the author check a thesaurus and find some synonyms before the book was published for sale.