Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
‘The Salt House’ by Lisa Duffy
304 pages
Publish date: June 13, 2017
Touchstone Books/Simon & Schuster
In the tradition of Jodi Picoult and Lisa Genova, this gorgeously written, heartbreaking, yet hopeful debut set during a Maine summer traces the lives of a young family in the aftermath of the unthinkable.
In the coastal town of Alden, Maine, Hope and Jack Kelly have settled down to a life of wedded bliss. They have a beautiful family, a growing lobster business, and the Salt House-the dilapidated oceanfront cottage they’re renovating into their dream home. But tragedy strikes when their young daughter doesn’t wake up from her afternoon nap, taking her last breath without making a sound.
A year later, each member of the Kelly family navigates the world on their own private island of grief. Hope spends hours staring at her daughter’s ashes, unable to let go. Jack works to the point of exhaustion in an attempt to avoid his crumbling marriage. Their daughters, Jess and Kat, struggle to come to terms with the loss of their younger sister while watching their parents fall apart.
Emotions ignite when Jack’s old rival, Ryland Finn, arrives with his family, including his son Alex. As Finn threatens Jack’s fishing territory and Alex connects with Jess, the Kelly family is propelled toward circumstances that will either tear them apart – or be the path to their family’s future. A beautiful, deeply moving portrait of marriage, family, friendship, and the intersections of love, grief, and hope. “The Salt House” is an unforgettable novel that proves the resilience of the human spirit.
About the author: Lisa Duffy received her MFA in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her fiction and nonfiction can be found in The Drum Literary Magazine, So To Speak, The Breakwater Review, Let the Bucket Down and elsewhere. Lisa is the founding editor of ROAR Magazine, a literary journal supporting women in the arts. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and three children. For more information, visit www.lisaduffywriter.com/.
