'Salvage the Bones' review

Title: Salvage the Bones

Author: Jesmyn Ward (narrator: Cherise Boothe)

Pages: 261
Format: Audiobook

Published: August 30, 2011

Rating: ★★★★ (out of five)

I first heard about this book and put the audiobook version on hold back in September of 2019... I finally got the notification that I'd gotten it May 10th, 2020. I have NO idea why it took the library so long - there were 50+ copies and you're not able to renew - but I'm glad to have finally got it. Cherise Boothe did a great job as narrator and it elevated the whole thing.

This story is set over 12 days leading up to and a bit of time after Hurricane Katrina. It revolves around a poor, black family living Bois Sauvage, MS. This is a family held together by these four siblings' bonds and while it was hard to read at times, I honestly wish I had that sort of closeness with my own family.

It opens with a dog, China, giving birth. It's pretty descriptive and not pleasant (if you've ever witnessed any sort of animal birth it probably won't be too bad). A huge focus of this book, though it's in Esch's point of view, revolves around her brother Skeetah and this dog/her pups. China is a fighting dog as is the male that got her pregnant, as eventually will be the puppies once they're grown. I don't like dog fighting... I think it's messed up and never thought in a million years I'd feel any sympathy towards folks that do such a thing, but the sort of love Skeetah has for China lends an interesting dynamic and the one time he fights her you understand why. It's a stupid, prideful reason, but you still get it.

Throughout the book, there's some parallels of Medea and Jason and the Argonauts. Esch is reading about her and it was cool getting a sort of refresher of the myth from her point of view relating to her life. Esch finds out she's pregnant early on and there's a lot of her struggling with what to do about it, how her body feels (though over 12 days, I can't imagine all that seeming change is accurate, perhaps it's in her head or maybe she's a lot further along and we aren't made aware because of denial on her part?), who to tell and when.

A handful of negative reviews about this one say that there's no character growth and I'm going to counter with: it's set over the course of 12 days. How much do you change over 12 days? The lack of character growth (though there is some, especially with Esch and Skeetah) doesn't bother me as the setting is so lush and the writing so poetic. It captures a time and a place and when the hurricane hits, it's nerve-wracking and scary. I remember when Hurricane Katrina happened. Watching the news during that time was horrifying. It was absolutely devastating for the area.

"I will tie the glass and stone with string, hang the shards above my bed, so that they will flash in the dark and tell the story of Katrina, the mother that swept into the Gulf and slaughtered. Her chariot was a storm so great and black the Greeks would say it was harnessed to dragons. She was the murderous mother who cut us to the bone but left us alive, left us naked and bewildered as wrinkled newborn babies, as blind puppies, as sun-starved newly hatched baby snakes. She left us a dark Gulf and salt-burned land. She left us to learn to crawl. She left us to salvage. Katrina is the mother we will remember until the next mother with large, merciless hands, committed to blood, comes.”

Overall, I thought this was a great listen and will highly suggest it to anyone looking for some US South fiction, contemporary. As a note, while most of the character involved are teenagers and younger, this might be a tougher book for younger kids. There is no descriptive sexual content and cursing, but I think the conversations that could be had from this could outweigh all of that.

Support local and Indie booksellers, buy a copy from Bookshop, here (this is an affiliate link)!