Not Only for Dog Lovers Despite the fact that Salvage the Bones (which won the National Book Award) actually features a dog on its cover (I am not a dog fan), something drew me to it. It tells the story of a family living in Mississippi in August of 2005---the summer that Katrina hit.
This is a poverty-stricken family we discover in the book. Their mother died giving birth to Junior about nine years ago, and the father tries, but he's also a drinker and a hitter and a little bit unreliable in the job department. Randall, the oldest brother, is trying to win a scholarship spot to a basketball camp that could help him earn a college scholarship; the next brother, Skeetah, is trying to keep the puppies of his pit bull, China, alive and healthy. And then there is Esch, the only girl and the character through whose eyes we experience the story's twelve days. Esch, who's 15, is trying to keep on top of her summer reading assignment for English, Edith Hamilton's Mythology, as well as trying to deal with her dawning realization: she's pregnant, by way of her rushed and sad encounters with Manny, Randall's best friend. Manny has a real girlfriend, but he still likes Esch enough, and Esch, a heartbreaking combination of toughness and twitterpation, likes him better than all the other boys she's been With Manny she feels like it's different, like he's choosing her because he loves her. "He wanted my girl heart; I gave him both of them."
One thing I loved about Esch was how her reading influences how she thinks. She is mesmerized by the romance stories in Mythology and weaves the experiences of Io and Artemis and, mostly, Medea (the woman who was betrayed by Jason) into her interpretations of what happens. This reminds me of the power of myth and its universality. And of how, when life grows desperate, story can be the rope we pull ourselves through with. That is the strength of those old stories for Esch. She is desperate: hungry all the time, and uncomfortable at the small bulge her t-shirts no longer hide, and nauseous and still wanting Manny to really see her.
Within the scope of the novel's twelve days, we get a glimpse of the life this family lives. They are an interesting combination of hardshelled and soft, aggressive and tender. Skeetah's relationship with China infuses all of the family members in one way or another. For Esch, China—who doesn't really seem to like being the mother of puppies and would rather continue on fighting other dogs—she is sort of an anti-hero. Each of Esch's significant experiences seem to occur in relation to one of China's, so at times I had to stop and think: is this happening to China? or to Esch?
The best account of Katrina Ms. Ward has written a great book that reminds me of Cormac McCarthy and William Faulkner. Yes, it's that good. This is a must-read, you will not regret it.
Too Gritty This book had great potential, but I was so disappointed by much of the content. There was so much language scattered throughout the book (some of the worst kind), descriptions of teenage sexual encounters, scenes with dogs fighting, etc. On the good side, the book was well-written, the themes and characters deep. It is heartbreaking to see what happens to a poor girl without a mother to teach and guide her. "It was easier to let the boys have their way than to say no."