Scan barcode
A review by pushingdessy
Salt Slow by Julia Armfield
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
🌊 You ever read a book that makes you go “oh that’s… yeah that’s me”?
That’s how I felt reading Julia Armfield’s anthology “salt slow” (2019). These short stories mirror “Our wives under the sea” so well, thematically as well as in style - if you liked either, you’ll probably enjoy the other.
📝 Armfield’s writing, to me, is gorgeously poetic without ever being contrived or coming off as purple prose. Some of her stories have a dash of magical realism; most are unsettling without being full horror. But all of them are really about exploring the mundane of the human experience. They’re heavy on introspection, about womanhood, relationships, solitude, love, body image, ache. The so-called female experience isn’t universal in all ways, of course, but I personally found these stories deeply relatable and honest for women who grew up and move through adulthood feeling quietly wrong in ways that are hard to articulate and reckon with.
Here’s a recap!
💫 Mantis: A teenage girl struggles with a rare skin condition. The twist was maybe the one that surprised me the most.
💫 The Great Awake: People start losing their sleep in the most literal sense, as it crawls out of their bodies. As someone who loves sleeping and needs extra sleep, this one hit hard.
💫 The collectables: A scorned young woman decides she deserves better than the scraps men have given her. The twist was predictable but delightfully creepy.
💫 Formerly feral: A teenage girl’s life changes when her dad marries a woman who adopted a wolf.
💫 Stop your women’s ears with wax: An all-girl band has a strange and dangerous sway over their fans. It made me think of a story from Mariana Enriquez in “The dangers of smoking in bed”, but it was unique in its own way.
💫 Granite: A woman revels in her first serious relationship. I found the introspection in this one particularly relatable to me.
💫 Smack: A recently divorced woman makes a stand at her ex’s beach house. This was probably my least favourite, although I still enjoyed it.
💫 Cassandra After: A grieving woman gets an unexpected visitor. This one was so creepy and so much in the vein of “Our wives…”
💫 salt slow: As the world drowns, a couple tries to stay afloat. This scenario was straight out of my nightmares.
That’s how I felt reading Julia Armfield’s anthology “salt slow” (2019). These short stories mirror “Our wives under the sea” so well, thematically as well as in style - if you liked either, you’ll probably enjoy the other.
📝 Armfield’s writing, to me, is gorgeously poetic without ever being contrived or coming off as purple prose. Some of her stories have a dash of magical realism; most are unsettling without being full horror. But all of them are really about exploring the mundane of the human experience. They’re heavy on introspection, about womanhood, relationships, solitude, love, body image, ache. The so-called female experience isn’t universal in all ways, of course, but I personally found these stories deeply relatable and honest for women who grew up and move through adulthood feeling quietly wrong in ways that are hard to articulate and reckon with.
Here’s a recap!
💫 Mantis: A teenage girl struggles with a rare skin condition. The twist was maybe the one that surprised me the most.
💫 The Great Awake: People start losing their sleep in the most literal sense, as it crawls out of their bodies. As someone who loves sleeping and needs extra sleep, this one hit hard.
💫 The collectables: A scorned young woman decides she deserves better than the scraps men have given her. The twist was predictable but delightfully creepy.
💫 Formerly feral: A teenage girl’s life changes when her dad marries a woman who adopted a wolf.
💫 Stop your women’s ears with wax: An all-girl band has a strange and dangerous sway over their fans. It made me think of a story from Mariana Enriquez in “The dangers of smoking in bed”, but it was unique in its own way.
💫 Granite: A woman revels in her first serious relationship. I found the introspection in this one particularly relatable to me.
💫 Smack: A recently divorced woman makes a stand at her ex’s beach house. This was probably my least favourite, although I still enjoyed it.
💫 Cassandra After: A grieving woman gets an unexpected visitor. This one was so creepy and so much in the vein of “Our wives…”
💫 salt slow: As the world drowns, a couple tries to stay afloat. This scenario was straight out of my nightmares.