Salvage the Bones: A Novel [L0011]

2011 -PB Good condition. Winner of The National Book Award 2011, A New York Times Best Book of the 21st Century, An Atlantic Great American Novel of the Last 100 Years, NPR Bestseller, "A taut, wily novel, smartly plotted and voluptuously written . . . Jesmyn Ward makes beautiful music, plays deftly with her reader's expectations." -Parul Sehgal, New York Times. A gritty but tender story of family and poverty in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina. Enduring a hardscrabble existence as the children of alcoholic and absent parents, four siblings from a coastal Mississippi town prepare their meager stores for the arrival of Hurricane Katrina while struggling with such challenges as a teen pregnancy and a dying litter of prize puppies. A big-hearted novel about familial love and community against all odds, and a wrenching look at the lonesome, brutal, and restrictive realities of rural poverty, Salvage the Bones is muscled with poetry, it's revelatory, and real.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Hurricane Katrina spawned an awesome number of literary works, and it may be that Salvage the Bones is the most worthy."; "Though this novel is sometimes framed as a 'Hurricane Katrina novel,' it is so much richer than that. Ward, through multigenerational stories and interweaving of personal connections, creates a story that presents us with complex family, gender, racial, and national dynamics. There is so much to think about with "Salvage," but it still reads with ease. The stories are complex, but not indecipherable. I loved Ward's use of color, imagery, and myth. The story was set in 2005 just before Katrina, but it felt like it could have taken place in many different times. This kind of timeless quality also adds to the story's universality."; "This novel tells an important story of survivors who are often overlooked. It is an intense and well-paced read. I greatly enjoyed the interweaving of Esch's family's story with the broader history of Katrina that I am more familiar with; it really empowered me to consider the individual lives of all those affected and just how much was lost. The familial relationships in this novel are its best part- they are all so complex but feel very true to life. Ward's writing is accessible and clear while still providing a rich and powerful reading experience. If you are interested in themes of maternity, poverty, survival, and climate, or simply want to experience a powerful story, I would recommend Salvage the Bones."