Guest post: Ilie Ruby

Last year, I read and enjoyed Ilie Ruby’s first book, The Language of Trees, and was lucky enough to interview Ilie afterward.  I’m excited about her next book, The Salt God’s Daughter, which will be released on September 4, 2012 and I’m thrilled to have this guest post about the book from Ilie.

I wrote THE SALT GOD’S DAUGHTER entirely at night. This story absolutely captured me—it wouldn’t let go.

There are sensitive themes in this book. There is real life—harsh and glaring.  There is magic and enchantment, as the story is woven with a Scottish folktale and Jewish mysticism. This is where my passion for stories lies—in weaving lyricism and magical realism with real life issues that speak to me, that move me, those things that most often reveal raw truths about love, healing, and the evolution of identity.

My main character, Ruth, embarks on a journey of discovery and survival. She lives in an enchanted landscape filled with the spirits of sea lions, with unspoken histories caught in the wind. When Ruthie has a daughter who is born “different,” with a secret that connects her to the ocean it will challenge everything she believes about who she is, and the nature of the maternal bond.

Here’s an excerpt from The Salt God’s Daughter:

We kicked our cowboy boots up on the empty chairs, confident there was nothing to be saved from. We were not holding our breath, hoping to be found. We had climbed out from under the weight of our childhood. We had already won.

We wanted to be not like some girls. We wanted to be all girls, all those who would come after us, and all of those who had come before. We wanted the questions asked by women generation after generation. We wanted to hold the labels in our hands, to turn them around, to take them apart. (…) We’d been raised with the need to know where we stood. We wanted to draw lines and yet our spirits bucked at the thought. We craved what dwelled inside the circle, and we craved the circle itself, to cross it, and to be that lovely curved line that found itself where it had begun. We ached to capture the essence that was ours, to run like mad with it, holding it like a kite with colored tails in the air. We wanted to feel the light of youth under our feet as we ran.