The Salt Madonna
by Catherine Noske
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Pub Date Feb 25 2020 | Archive Date May 31 2020
Pan Macmillan Australia | Picador
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Description
'Tense, original and lyrically told; this is a gripping story of a community spellbound by collective mania and the search for what cannot be found...' Gail Jones
This is the story of a crime.
This is the story of a miracle.
There are two stories here.
Hannah Mulvey left her island home as a teenager. But her stubborn, defiant mother is dying, and now Hannah has returned to Chesil, taking up a teaching post at the tiny schoolhouse, doing what she can in the long days of this final year.
But though Hannah cannot pinpoint exactly when it begins, something threatens her small community. A girl disappears entirely from class. Odd reports and rumours reach her through her young charges. People mutter on street corners, the church bell tolls through the night and the island's women gather at strange hours...And then the miracles begin.
A page-turning, thought-provoking portrayal of a remote community caught up in a collective moment of madness, of good intentions turned terribly awry. A blistering examination of truth and power, and how we might tell one from the other.
'Catherine Noske's debut novel grapples with questions of familial obligation, complicity, remorse and the fallibility of memory...The Salt Madonna will appeal to readers who enjoyed Laura Elizabeth Woollett's Beautiful Revolutionary.' Books+Publishing
'Catherine Noske's The Salt Madonna is Australian Gothic at its most sublime and uncanny. Superbly atmospheric and darkly unsettling, the characters are haunted by their colonial pasts, manifested in guilty silence...Noske's taut, subversive writing exposes unspeakable truths buried in dazzling stories, miracles and epiphanies.' Cassandra Atherton
Advance Praise
'Tense, original and lyrically told; this is a gripping story of a community spellbound by collective mania and the search for what cannot be found ... ' Gail Jones
'Catherine Noske's debut novel grapples with questions of familial obligation, complicity, remorse and the fallibility of memory ... The Salt Madonna will appeal to readers who enjoyed Laura Elizabeth Woollett's Beautiful Revolutionary.' Books+Publishing
'Catherine Noske's The Salt Madonna is Australian Gothic at its most sublime and uncanny. Superbly atmospheric and darkly unsettling, the characters are haunted by their colonial pasts, manifested in guilty silence ... Noske's taut, subversive writing exposes unspeakable truths buried in dazzling stories, miracles and epiphanies.' Cassandra Atherton
Marketing Plan
The Crucible meets The Natural Way of Things in this stunning novel from debut author Catherine Noske.
The Crucible meets The Natural Way of Things in this stunning novel from debut author Catherine Noske.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781760784249 |
| PRICE | A$32.99 (AUD) |
Links
Featured Reviews
Amanda B, Reviewer
Set in the early 1990's on a remote island off the coast of Western Australia, this book started with such promise for me. I was intrigued by the story of a small community, isolated from the mainland, and the disappearance suddenly of a young teenager from school.
The writing style was beautiful and captivating and I was genuinely enjoying this but then unfortunately for me something got lost around the half-way mark. I started to lose focus and the story line seemed to take off on a strange tangent that I just couldn't digest.
Religion features heavily in this book but in a frightening cult-like way where the towns people literally seem to become possessed by this need to be saved by something greater than they can understand.
The story is narrated by Hannah who has returned to the island as her mother is terminally ill. I was drawn into Hannah's story, which seemed to be begging me to understand why things on the island had happened the way they had. I felt as though as long as I stayed with Hannah all would make sense in the end, but again, unfortunately for me, it didn't, and the ending left me with more questions than I started with.
Thank you Pan Macmillan Australia and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.
Krystelle F, Reviewer
Please note this is a 3.5.
This book has a gorgeous tone. Australian gothic is hard to pinpoint and extraordinarily difficult to balance, but the author strikes this perfectly in this book, with atmospheric descriptions and characters who could have stepped out of a whole 1800’s genre that doesn’t really exist at present. I loved the whole world it created, and the small town claustrophobia was wonderfully crafted as well. The undertone of nastiness and cult mentality came across incredibly well too.
The initial mystery was also fantastic, pulling the reader in hook, line, and sinker. I anticipated some form of historical fiction, and, in a way, that is indeed what this book delivers. I went into it expecting no fast paced thriller but something more literary fiction and that’s what this book was like. I really enjoyed it for that reason too, so that was nice.
But sadly that’s where I end my praise for this book. The first half was wonderful because it had that mystery and cohesion, but then it ended up going in a lot of different directions and I just lost it. The plot unspooled in front of my eyes and it just ended up lacking all the substance that the first half had. I really wish that this went a better direction with the final half, but I did enjoy what this book tried to do- it just seemed to lose its way.
