Description

Luda, a photographer, and her two teenagers arrive in the Scottish Northern Isles to make a new life. Everywhere the past shimmers to the surface; the shifting landscapes and wild weather dominates; the line between reality and the uncanny seems thin here. The teenagers forge connections, making friends of neighbours, discovering both longing and dangerous compulsions. But their mother – fallible, obsessive, distracted – comes up hard against suspicion. The persecution and violence that drove the island’s historic witch trials still simmers today, in isolated homes and church buildings, and where folklore and fact intertwine.

A compelling and magically immersive novel about a family on the edge and a community ensnared by history, that gathers to an unforgettable ending.

Publisher Review

'Brilliant. With such a good ending, it had me slapping the back cover closed with utmost satisfaction and respect. Hard recommend.' - Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites and Devotionem; 'Eliza Henry-Jones is a brilliant storyteller. In Salt and Skin she has conjured a world that is hauntingly alive: to the slippery intersections between past and present, body and spirit, the uncanny and the real; an entrancing story of loss, redemption and love.' - Lucy Treloar, author of Salt Creek; 'In delving into the history of witchcraft, Henry-Jones achieves the rare feat of incorporating magic realism into a modern story in a way that feels natural, inevitable.' - Canberra Times; 'Henry-Jones blends past and present, reality and magic into a compelling story loud with warning voices for our time.' - Sydney Morning Herald