In the village of Cape Cod, the Gilly’s are known for their salt farm.  The sisters grew up working the farm and knowing the hard work of mining salt under the watchful eye and guidance of their mother.  Jo, the older of the two, embarrassed what the salt brought to her community and to her life, Claire however felt differently, being pretty and popular she could not get wait to get away from the burden that to her was all the salt offered… and she would find a way out no matter what….

even if it meant marrying the son of the family who caused the Gilly’s the most grief… wealthy Whit Turner.  When a fire destroys the relationship between the sisters, and Claire’s high school sweetheart turns his heart to other things, Claire escapes into her life with Whit.

Of course, as Claire soon learns, money and prestige are not everything. 

Then the tides turn again and Claire finds herself brought full circle, back to the past she had escaped, and along with her the pregnant mistress of her husbands.  Jo and Claire together work to make things right in Cape Cod, learning to accept each other and seeing that sometimes all you need is a little pinch of salt.

I have had my eye on this book since I first seen the cover.  The title is catching and the cover drew me in.  Thankfully, this book was not just a surface love, within its pages (or in this case, within the audio)I found a tale that was both interesting and delightful all rolled into one.  Author Tiffany Baker (who is also the author of The Little Giant of Aberdeen County) has a fun wit about her and there are so many great quotes in this book…

“There was no etiquette guide in the universe that told you how to handle waking up in a house you’d fled from as a teenager with your estranged sister in one room across the hall and your husband’s pregnant teenage mistress in the other.”

It was really interesting learning about the salt, and I liked the almost “magical” aspect they gave it… not knowing what the salt would do and believing that ones fate could be tied to the salt.  There is also the strong differences between the sisters that you can appreciate, Jo always loyal to a fault, and Claire strong and independent to the point of her own almost destruction… together they level each other out. 

Narrator Angela Brazil had a nearly flawless performance as she seamlessly made her way through the cast of interesting characters without pause.  This was one of those books you could not wait to know how it is all going to end, and at the same time you dread knowing how it is all going to end because that is of course… the end.  And honestly, I did not want it to end. 

I highly recommend picking up a copy of this amazing read.  While I listened to it on audio, I suspect it is just as wonderful and engaging in book format. Keep your eye on Tiffany Baker, with writing like this I cant wait to see what she comes up with next.

For a fun little extra, Esme at Chocolate and Croissants recently wrote an interesting post about salt along with incredible pictures.  Its worth taking a look at and I think it gives you a real feel for what working the salt as in this book, would be like.