Listen to a sample
Of Women and Salt
- Author
- Gabriela Garcia
- Narrator
- Frankie Corzo, Gabriela Garcia
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Publish Date
- 15 April 2021
- Run Time
- 7 hours 7 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Family saga / generational saga fiction, Narrative theme: displacement, exile, migration, Intergenerational relationships: advice, topics and issues
- Rating
- 5.0 (1 review)
Not available in your country
We don't have the rights to sell this audiobook where you are. If it's already in your library you can still listen to it in My Books.
What to expect
The New York Times Bestseller
'Extraordinary . . . stunning' Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory
'Vivid details, visceral prose and strong willful women' Angie Cruz, author of Dominicana
'Vivid, engrossing, luminous' Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti
Five generations of women, linked by blood and circumstance, by the secrets they share, and by a single book passed down through a family, with an affirmation scrawled in its margins: We are force. We are more than we think we are.
1866, Cuba: María Isabel is the only woman employed at a cigar factory, where each day the workers find strength in daily readings of Victor Hugo. But these are dangerous political times, and as María begins to see marriage and motherhood as her only options, the sounds of war are approaching.
1959, Cuba: Dolores watches her husband make for the mountains in answer to Fidel Castro’s call to arms. What Dolores knows, though, is that to survive, she must win her own war, and commit an act of violence that threatens to destroy her daughter Carmen’s world.
2016, Miami: Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, is shocked when her daughter Jeanette announces her plans to travel to Cuba to see her grandmother Dolores. In the walls of her crumbling home lies a secret, one that will link Jeanette to her past, and to this fearless line of women.
From nineteenth-century cigar factories to present-day detention centres, from Cuba to the United States to Mexico, Gabriela Garcia’s Of Women and Salt follows Latina women of fierce pride, bound by the stories passed between them. It is a haunting meditation on the choices of mothers and the tenacity of women who choose to tell their truth despite those who wish to silence them. For fans of American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins and Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, this audio edition includes a bonus conversation between Gabriela Garcia and Roxane Gay.
Critics Review
-
Gabriela Garcia captures the lives of Cuban women in a world to which they refuse to surrender and she does so with precision and generosity and beauty
Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist
-
I am a sucker for intergenerational family dramas and fraught mother and daughter relationships. Garcia's vivid details, visceral prose and strong willful women negotiating how to survive in this world are easy to fall for
Angie Cruz, author of Dominicana
-
Extraordinary. Of Women and Salt is a book that made me fall in love with reading again, that reminded me of the power and devastating effect that words can possess. It is a stunning hymn to the strength of mothers. The last book that made me feel this way was Girl, Woman, Other, written with the same generosity and compassion, its words (so elegant and understated) delivered like blows. I cannot stop thinking about it.
Elizabeth Macneal, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory
-
I devoured it, and in return it swallowed me whole into the lives of women whose decisions mould and make each other. It’s about mothers & daughters - fierce love and the terror that comes with it. How we save each other. How we save ourselves.
Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies
See more reviews See fewer reviews
-
This stunningly accomplished first novel is both epic and intimate.
O, The Oprah Magazine
-
A mesmerizing patchwork of determination, courage and survival.
Washington Post
-
The women in Garcia's striking debut novel are connected not just by blood but by the need to endure or escape abusive relationships and countries. She captures the hope and pain of immigration and the terror of deportation with an unsentimental yet empathetic eye
New York Times
-
A vivid, engrossing novel . . . it utterly absorbed me with its luminous, exacting prose and depictions of redemption and violence
Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti
-
A moving intergenerational epic
Refinery29
-
A sweeping tour de force about addiction, displacement, and the legacy of trauma
Harper's Bazaar
-
Expansive yet intimate . . . this gorgeous debut heralds the arrival of a literary star
Elle
-
Gripping, accomplished . . . an interlocking portrait of women striving, loving, losing, getting lost and getting found
Lit Hub
-
The debut that's had publishing buzzing all winter long meditates on the way immigration shapes the lives of Latinx women
Entertainment Weekly
-
A fierce and powerful debut. Garcia wields narrative power, cultivating true and profound work on migration, legacy, and survival
Terese Marie Mailhot, bestselling author of Heart Berries
-
A stunning achievement. I loved its intensity, its scope, its vivid prose. An essential, profound story about mothers and daughters, the Latina Experience, and the indomitable beating heart of womankind.
Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters
-
An outstanding debut from a supremely talented writer, this story stayed with me for a long while. Spanning different time frames, and locations across the US to Mexico, the engrossing tale interlinks the lives of five Latina women living in challenging circumstances. A book about resilience, strength and empowerment
Prima Magazine
-
[A] deeply American story about the pieces of self people leave behind on their journeys to become "Americans"
San Francisco Chronicle
-
Of Women and Salt defies convention and sentimentality and chips away at all manner of myths . . . [it] reads like poetry
Vogue
-
An impressive debut about heritage, baggage, and needing the kind of 'love that erases everything that came before it' . . . [Garcia is] an outstanding novelist and an exciting new voice with a talent for bringing humanity to the page
Boston Globe
-
Wonderful . . . a captivating and harrowing debut that will undoubtedly put Garcia on the literary map for years to come
Seattle Times
-
Garcia’s debut is slim yet lush, imbued with a harsh beauty
Oprah Daily
-
A tale weaved with pain, loss and strength, Of Women and Salt is a story of America’s most tangled, honest, human roots
SUCCESS
-
An enthralling and important story . . . Garcia shines in her ability to ultimately emphasize the strength, the perseverance, of these Latinx women
The Nerd Daily
-
Highly anticipated . . . The intergenerational narrative tackles immigration, addiction, and sexual trauma with ambition and a poetic voice
Elle.com
-
Garcia makes a powerful statement about how we draw on our roots to understand our place in the world, showing that no matter how much we may try to escape the past, it always influences the present
Real Simple
-
A powerful novel from an eye-catching new voice
Bustle
-
An impressive, tightly braided whole. This riveting account will please readers of sweeping multigenerational stories
Publisher's Weekly
-
In her beautifully written debut, Gabriela Garcia presents a new classic of mother-daughter literature . . . quietly heartbreaking
BookPage
-
Phenomenal . . . readers won’t want to put [it] down
BUST
-
This remarkable debut shines a brilliant light on the broken immigration system and legacy of trauma for the people who endure it
Ms.
-
Speaks to immigrant experiences in so many different ways. . . . Garcia demonstrates how migration can bring us closer together and tear us apart, how we reinforce borders all the time, how we fail each other
BITCH
-
A multi-generational story that, at its heart, is a tribute to imperfect mother-daughter relationships and the enduring strength of women
Stylist
User Reviews
Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
- No written reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Gabriela Garcia
- Narrator
- Frankie Corzo, Gabriela Garcia
- Duration
- 7 hours 7 minutes
- Release Date
- 15 April 2021
- ISBN
- 9781529031546
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Family saga / generational saga fiction, Narrative theme: displacement, exile, migration, Intergenerational relationships: advice, topics and issues
- Rating
- 5.0(1 review)
- Narration
- 5.0(1 review)
Synopsis
The New York Times Bestseller'Extraordinary . . . stunning' Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory'Vivid details, visceral prose and strong willful women' Angie Cruz, author of Dominicana'Vivid, engrossing, luminous' Sharlene Teo, author of PontiFive generations of women, linked by blood and circumstance, by the secrets they share, and by a single book passed down through a family, with an affirmation scrawled in its margins: We are force. We are more than we think we are.1866, Cuba: María Isabel is the only woman employed at a cigar factory, where each day the workers find strength in daily readings of Victor Hugo. But these are dangerous political times, and as María begins to see marriage and motherhood as her only options, the sounds of war are approaching.1959, Cuba: Dolores watches her husband make for the mountains in answer to Fidel Castro’s call to arms. What Dolores knows, though, is that to survive, she must win her own war, and commit an act of violence that threatens to destroy her daughter Carmen’s world.2016, Miami: Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, is shocked when her daughter Jeanette announces her plans to travel to Cuba to see her grandmother Dolores. In the walls of her crumbling home lies a secret, one that will link Jeanette to her past, and to this fearless line of women.From nineteenth-century cigar factories to present-day detention centres, from Cuba to the United States to Mexico, Gabriela Garcia’s Of Women and Salt follows Latina women of fierce pride, bound by the stories passed between them. It is a haunting meditation on the choices of mothers and the tenacity of women who choose to tell their truth despite those who wish to silence them. For fans of American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins and Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, this audio edition includes a bonus conversation between Gabriela Garcia and Roxane Gay.
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.