Salvage the Bones - BookWyrm.World

Paperback, 288 pages

Published April 24, 2012 by Bloomsbury USA.

ISBN:: 978-1-60819-626-5
OCLC Number:: 790128611

Winner of the National Book Award

Jesmyn Ward, two-time National Book Award winner and author of Sing, Unburied, Sing, delivers a gritty but tender novel about family and poverty in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina.

A hurricane is building over the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the coastal town of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi, and Esch's father is growing concerned. A hard drinker, largely absent, he doesn't show concern for much else. Esch and her three brothers are stocking food, but there isn't much to save. Lately, Esch can't keep down what food she gets; she's fourteen and pregnant. Her brother Skeetah is sneaking scraps for his prized pitbull's new litter, dying one by one in the dirt. Meanwhile, brothers Randall and Junior try to stake their claim in a family long on child's play and short on parenting.

As the twelve days that make up the …

Winner of the National Book Award

Jesmyn Ward, two-time National Book Award winner and author of Sing, Unburied, Sing, delivers a gritty but tender novel about family and poverty in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina.

A hurricane is building over the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the coastal town of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi, and Esch's father is growing concerned. A hard drinker, largely absent, he doesn't show concern for much else. Esch and her three brothers are stocking food, but there isn't much to save. Lately, Esch can't keep down what food she gets; she's fourteen and pregnant. Her brother Skeetah is sneaking scraps for his prized pitbull's new litter, dying one by one in the dirt. Meanwhile, brothers Randall and Junior try to stake their claim in a family long on child's play and short on parenting.

As the twelve days that make up the novel's framework yield to their dramatic conclusion, this unforgettable family--motherless children sacrificing for one another as they can, protecting and nurturing where love is scarce--pulls itself up to face another day. A big-hearted novel about familial love and community against all odds, and a wrenching look at the lonesome, brutal, and restrictive realities of rural poverty, Salvage the Bones is muscled with poetry, revelatory, and real.

8 editions

KnitAFett reviewed Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (Bois Sauvage, #2)

Tough but good. Just check trigger warnings before starting.

4 stars

This was a bit of a rough read for me due to the dog fights, but Ward has such a way with describing her characters and their emotions/thoughts. I would recommend this one because it really pulled me in and had me rooting for the family when Katrina was rolling in. But just make sure you're in a place to handle the animal violence/gore and the not-so-happy events that occur.

kerry reviewed Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (Bois Sauvage, #2)

Review of 'Salvage the Bones' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Salvage the Bones is a beautifully written, harrowing story of the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina, told by the teenage Esch. Her widowed father is feebly attempting to prepare for the hurricane and is virtually ignored by his children, who are absorbed in their own pursuits: Randall with basketball (which may give him with opportunities that don’t otherwise exist); Skeetah with his dog, China (whom he loves without measure and who seems to love him back); Junior with his need for physical contact and affection; and Esch, who has just learned that she’s pregnant.

Esch longs for the love of her baby daddy (a friend of one of her brothers) even though he is clearly a jerk. She (and her brothers) long for the love of their mother. They try to recall things she has taught them and told them. Skeetah has already forgotten what her voice sounds like. …

Salvage the Bones is a beautifully written, harrowing story of the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina, told by the teenage Esch. Her widowed father is feebly attempting to prepare for the hurricane and is virtually ignored by his children, who are absorbed in their own pursuits: Randall with basketball (which may give him with opportunities that don’t otherwise exist); Skeetah with his dog, China (whom he loves without measure and who seems to love him back); Junior with his need for physical contact and affection; and Esch, who has just learned that she’s pregnant.

Esch longs for the love of her baby daddy (a friend of one of her brothers) even though he is clearly a jerk. She (and her brothers) long for the love of their mother. They try to recall things she has taught them and told them. Skeetah has already forgotten what her voice sounds like. Junior never knew her.

The only actual “mother” in the story is China, who has just given birth to her first litter. But don’t think that she’s portrayed as the angelic mother figure. There's a depiction of a dogfight that was horrific to read, as was another gasp-inducing event involving China.

The family survives Katrina (no spoiler here; the final chapter is titled “Alive”). Although this is a work of fiction, it gives us a view to what it was like inside those houses that we saw on TV in 2005. As grim as the circumstances are, Esch shows us the calm after the storm. Loyalty and hope win out.

* * * * * * * *

I have a teensy-tiny quibble with some of the author's metaphors. In chapter 4 she tells us that the dog's bark was "like a shovel dragged along asphalt wearing away to stones." Later, in chapter 12, Skeetah’s "voice sounded like a rake being dragged over rocks". The first quote was poetic; the second felt like a retread.

Overall, a really, really good book.