Saturday, April 07, 2012

What is Tiffany Baker reading?

This weekend's featured contributor at Writers Read: Tiffany Baker, author of The Gilly Salt Sisters.

Her entry begins:
If you know my books, you’ll know I am sucker for magic and myths, so I guess it makes sense that I’m devouring Kathryn Harrison’s Enchantments right now, which is all about the end of the Tsar’s rule, told in the voice of Rasputin’s daughter. I am mildly obsessed with all things Russian—from their pre-history, to the times of Tsars, all the way up to current events. Harrison’s book is so lush with detail, I can almost taste the snow, and it’s a fantastic blend of history and fable. I love the way she incorporates the Russian fairy tales I knew as a child into the story. If you’re not familiar with Baba Yaga, I highly encourage a little research. She’s an old woman who lives in the forest in a hut made of bones and set on chicken feet, and she flies through the air in a mortar and pestle. She scared the bejesus out of me when...[read on]
About The Gilly Salt Sisters, from the publisher:
The author of the New York Times bestselling The Little Giant of Aberdeen County returns with a magic-tinged tale of dreams, family secrets, and betrayals on a New England salt farm.

In the isolated Cape Cod village of Prospect, the Gilly sisters are as different as can be. Jo, a fierce and quiet loner, is devoted to the mysteries of her family's salt farm, while Claire is popular, pretty, and yearns to flee the salt at any cost. But the Gilly land hides a dark legacy that proves impossible to escape. Although the community half-suspects the Gilly sisters might be witches, it doesn't stop Whit Turner, the town's wealthiest bachelor, from forcing his way into their lives. It's Jo who first steals Whit's heart, but it is Claire--heartbroken over her high school sweetheart--who marries him.

Years later, estranged from her family, Claire finds herself thrust back onto the farm with the last person she would have chosen: her husband's pregnant mistress. Suddenly, alliances change, old loves return, and new battle lines are drawn. What the Gilly sisters learn about each other, the land around them, and the power of the salt, will not only change each of their lives forever, it will also alter Gilly history for good.
Learn more about the author and her work at Tiffany Baker's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Little Giant of Aberdeen County.

Writers Read: Tiffany Baker.

--Marshal Zeringue