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Salt and Skin

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Salt and Skin

By: Eliza Henry-Jones
Narrated by: Taylor Owynns
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About this listen

A haunting and evocative mystery set on a remote Scottish island.

Grief-stricken and on the verge of a breakdown, Luda Managan and her two teenage children try to make a home for themselves on a collection of harsh and haunted Scottish islands.

Luda, a photographer, is mesmerised by the extraordinary magic of the islands but soon finds herself condemned by the local community after publishing images documenting the death of a local child. Alienated, Luda turns her attention to the records from the 17th century island witch-hunts and the fragmented life stories of the executed women.

Min, restless and strong, finds comfort in the depths of the North Sea and in an unlikely friendship with the elderly and irreverent local ‘witch’.

The only thing that Darcy cares about is getting entry into university—one far away from his mother. Until he meets the wild foundling, Theo.

When a tragic accident unleashes ghosts and the echoes of long-ago violence and betrayal into their lives, the Managans are forced to confront the ways that history both hinders us and sets us free.

©2022 Eliza Henry-Jones (P)2022 W. F. Howes Ltd Detective Fiction Gothic Horror Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Scary Magic Haunted Witty Tear-jerking Feel-Good Witchcraft Magic Users
All stars
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Not only is the story worth reading but the narration, by Taylor Owens, makes it one of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to.

Excellent story, beautifully written

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I felt like this book constantly keeps you in a state of anticipation, and while some questions were answered, some are left wide open. It was a great mystery, but I kinda felt frustrated when it ended

so many questions

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This is such a beautiful book. I am in awe of the talent of the author in so many areas. She made me fall in love with all her characters, she made me wonder at the thread of magic, had me in tears and genuinely angry at some of the directions the plot went because I cared for the characters so much. The narration was brilliant (I could listen to her Theo voice all day)
I was sad when it finished as I wanted to keep listening to this story and plan to buy a physical copy of this book for my bookshelf.

Mesmerising

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I enjoyed the blend of folk tale and modern story and the gentle weave between character voices.

Though Min, a young woman, my favourite, was given a whiny voice by the narrator, despite her being the strongest, most caring and resilient of them all. She carried the weight of dysfunctional family members uncomplainingly and yet had the most significant of family 'wounds'. No doubt the narrators voice was a way to differentiate her from others, but it was a reflection on how we view young women and a baseless cliche.

I grew tired of the constant miscommunications and long held secret holding. A structural edit to remove 3-4 hours of repetitive circling would have made it 5 stars. By the time the end came I'd tired of Darcy and Theo's storyline and wished it would just hurry up and resolve.

The ending was inconclusive and after pushing through listening, unsatisfying.

Beautiful for three quarters, then loses it

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.