The Salt Line: A Novel

· LSU Press
eBook
320
Pages

About this eBook

"Spencer's refined, sensuous writing and laser insights inform this novel, as extraordinary as her other works." -- Publishers Weekly
At a certain point approaching the Mississippi coast, the air fills with the salt smell of the Gulf of Mexico. For all of the characters in Elizabeth Spencer's gracefully written novel, the salt line divides past and present, memory and longing, tranquillity and danger. Crossing it places everyone in the chaotic path of Arnie Carrington, former professor and 1960s campus radical, who is on a crusade to restore the small Gulf Coast town of Notchaki after the devastation of Hurricane Camille. Threatening the enterprise is the arrival of Arnie's former colleague Lex Graham, who intends to use his wealth to squash his longtime rival's plans for the area's rejuvenation.
The romantic, generous Carrington attracts a wide array of devotees -- Frank Matteo, a Mafia-connected restaurateur trying to go straight; Mavis, the pregnant girlfriend Frank has rejected; Dorothy, Lex's unstable wife, who wants to resume an ancient affair with Arnie; and Lex's cherished daughter Lucinda, a coquette who fancies Arnie's idealism.
The characters in The Salt Line are rebuilding, reckoning with old ghosts, liberating repressed passions, and getting back into life. Elaborately and densely populated, masterfully plotted, and elegant in style, Spencer has woven a tale about the lines that bind, divide, and envelop people.
"Appealing... eloquent... it won't disappoint you." -- New York Times

About the author

Elizabeth Spencer wrote many novels, including The Light in the Piazza, The Snare, The Night Travellers, and The Voice at the Back Door. She was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

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