Customer Reviews

The Salt Garden

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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Martinusen is an underappreciated author. In the past, she's woven thoughtful suspense stories around WWII secrets; she's crafted characters we care for and can't forget. Here, in "The Salt Garden," she tries a different angle--with remarkable results.

Less overtly suspenseful, yet full of mystery and secrets, this book takes us into the hearts and minds of three women--a modern, frustrated reporter; a reclusive, elderly novelist; and a deceased journal writer. The threads of these women's stories intertwine, then pull tighter and tighter as more facts come to light. The pages are filled with beautiful imagery and thought-provoking introspection. Martinusen shows her skill, letting each character have a voice distinctly her own.

I believe Cindy Martinusen has many more tales to tell. Her heart for God, her struggle with the issues of life, and her honesty in the midst of it all lend weight to her words and emotion to each of her stories. More readers should take notice!

If you're looking for a novel that will challenge your thinking, I recommend "The Salt Garden." Cindy Martinusen has written a novel that makes you examine your faith--for the purpose of deepening it. Here are some examples:
"If only grace came without the need for it."
"There is something fearful in revealing our true selves, allowing others to peer intimately inside. It takes such trust, and none of us is completely trustworthy."
"The past is like a coat I put on every morning, defining me in many ways."
If a book doesn't make me think more deeply about life, God and who I am, it's not worth my time. That's what I loved about Martinusen's book.
I also thought her multiple first person narrators were an interesting trio. I related a lot to Claire, the city news reporter who goes home to her small town with an inflated view of her importance. We all need to learn we're wrong about others and life sometimes.
I highly recommend "The Salt Garden."

Seasoned Christian novelist Cindy McCormick Martinusen combines elements from so many fine genres, reminiscent of so many fine secular authors in her new novel, THE SALT GARDEN: seaside mystery elements like Victoria Holt, historical intrigue like M.M. Kaye, gentle romantic spirit like Rosamond Pilcher, and family interaction like Jodi Picoult. In this book, three characters (two living, one dead) alternate telling the story.

San Francisco reporter Claire O'Rourke is a young woman who has returned to her hometown of Harper's Bay ostensibly for a visit, but winds up staying and taking a job at The Tidal Post when family circumstances change. As she settles into what turns out to be a much-needed change of pace, her path crosses with that of Sophia Fleming, a once-lauded and now-reclusive author in her seventies who lives on a small island off the coast. The character of Josephine Vanderook speaks from the pages of a saltwater-encrusted diary that Sophia finds in a rock pool on her morning walk.

Soon the voices of these three women are creating a sort of call-and-response in their alternating pages. Although Claire, Sophia and Josephine have many differences, their common threads of loving words and writing as well as their devotion to God begin to bind them together and lessen differences of time, age and circumstance. Sophia, who has been hoarding the diary to herself rather than give it to the town museum, finds that the new young woman on the scene seems very familiar to her, and when she allows Claire in to her home and read the diary pages, the faith of the two modern women is contrasted with their historical counterpart.

Martinusen's central message seems to be that everyone's path to faith --- Claire's, Sophia's, Josephine's --- takes a different course. Some of the "big city, little city" contrast is overdone, and some of the characters, like the latte-brewing "Cap'n Charlie," seem a little too quaint. But the friendship between Sophia and Ben that blossoms into romance, despite some very real present-day and past obstacles, is beautifully drawn, as is the "romance" of working at an old-fashioned, slow-going but industrious newspaper for Claire. As Claire begins a relationship with town artist Griffin and her family faces a crisis surrounding her brother and a little girl he is protecting, Ben is facing a tough choice about retirement and Sophia seems almost lost in her solitude.

Yet the strongest element of this book has less to do with character details and plot points than it does with the author's own spiritual grace. On her Web site, when asked what she hopes to accomplish through her writing, Cindy says, "I definitely always want to glorify God in my writing. I don't want to lose touch with that --- to get so into the writing that I lose the fact that this is God's calling. I want to be able to balance both of those so it's like seeking God through the story." Martinusen's sensibility to the different spiritual stages of her characters sets this book apart from other Christian novels.

--- Reviewed by Bethanne Kelly Patrick

This is a beautifully written story full of deep places and sprinkled with light mystery. Set on the West coast the novel weaves together the lives of three women around a lost story hidden in the depths of the sea. The women all have nuggets of truth to share with the hungry reader: Claire, a young writer, passionate, questioning, and growing; Sophia, an aging reclusive novelist, afraid yet stretching, wise yet guarded, real yet spiritual; and Josephine, a woman long dead whose journal touches on the mystery of the sunken ship and the mystery of God. I'm not sure I can explain how this book affected me. At one level it's a gentle story with a touch of intrigue. At another level it is a whisper of the soul. I found myself wishing for a highlighter as little phrases caught my attention and begged to be reread. I found myself thinking about such things as grace, prayer, the giving of self to something greater, and the pursuit of our souls, our passions and our God. These were the places my heart went as Cindy's beautiful writing style took me on the journey into the lives of her characters. I think I swam for a while, venturing into the depths. If you read the book, you'll understand that statement.

<i>The Salt Garden</i> by Cindy Martinusen is a beautifully woven story of three women: Claire is young, and unsure of where her life is leading her; Sophia is a reclusive author who is questioning love and loss, and the choices she made so long ago; Josephine is a widow from a hundred years earlier, whose ship sank under mysterious circumstances.

The story unravels the mystery around the ship, as revealed through Josephine's recently discovered diary. Claire and Sophia are searching for answers independently, but Sophia's fears keep her in seclusion. They learn from Josephine's words as well as each other when God intersects their lives on a treacherous Pacific shoreline.

Marinusen's language is almost poetic in its beauty. She brings the truth of God's love to life within the pages of The Salt Garden. It's a book to be savored and lingered over. I highly recommend it. -- <b>Mary Connealy, Christian Book Previews.com</b>

I am a librarian and have read several Christian fiction authors since Janette Oke came on the scene. I am now incredibly fussy about how I spend my spare time, and will only read the very best writers with the most thought-provoking ideas. Favorite authors include George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, and T. Davis Bunn. Cindy is now on that list, too. She is intelligent, insightful, and shows the true character of the Lord in her writing. Thank you, Cindy, and keep it up!

Cindy Martinusen writes another can't put down book. The story is enchanting like spending a day solving mysteries at the beach. The characters are so real you want to sit down and share a cup of coffee with them.

Cindy Martinusen's newest book, The Salt Garden, is a tale of three women whose lives impact one another, each in a different, but substantial way. I was pleased to be able to buy this book even before it was "technically" released because I attended an author night at a local college where Cindy was a speaker. (She is an excellent speaker, by the way!) After Cindy read the opening - where we meet Sophia - I could not wait to get started. And, as I expected, it was a page turner from first to last.

Also a serene read, it is one to be savored. Cindy's amazing desciptions of the small coastal town where the story takes place made me want to go there, even though it is a mythical spot. Her beautiful, moving details of the sea made me feel the wind whip through my hair and the waves bounce beneath my feet. The story kept my interest and I had to keep myself from looking ahead to see what happened.

It is told in multiple first person from three points of view: Claire - a young writer who returns home, not planning to stay; Sophia - a reclusive novelist who finds the world's pain too much to bear; and Josephine - a woman who, through her journal, reaches to the others from the grave. And it is Josephine, who is the catalyst that causes Sophia and Claire to reach beyond themselves, beyond their comfort zones, toward relationship.

The Salt Garden is the kind of book to take to that quiet place when everything is still. Then, with feet snuggled up and a cup of steaming Earl Grey nearby, open the covers, experience and enjoy.

Would you desire to peer inside the mind and thoughts of a godly woman? Interested in reading a fictional story of how godly women react to the various events of their lives?

The Salt Garden by Cindy Martinusen is adventure into the minds of three women from the small town of Harper's Bay and the providential events centering around the discovery the journal from a shipwreck survivor.

Presented in 1st person narrative, reading this book is like sitting along with these women and watching their lives unfold before you. Memories of the past, thoughts of the present, and the ever changing plans for the future are all found in this novel.

There is Sophia...

The reclusive novelist and prayer warrior with the adventurous thoughts that fill notebook after notebook of fictional stories that may never be published. Reading of her thoughts and recounting the memories of her life reminding me of the character Wendy in the novel Peter Pan. Sophia is defined in this novel with this comment "Contemplation has been my companion."

There is Jospehine...

The romantic, enduring, steadfast wife of the shipbuilder. A shipwreck survivor, it is Josephine's journal Sophia discovers during a oceanside walk. Her papers, donated after her death to the local historical society, spark media interest to seek more answers to what really happened the night the `Josephine' sank. Reading from her jounal thoughts sparks devotion, strength and empathy. Josephine is defined in this novel with this comment "I would have followed him anywhere".

There is Claire...

The young news reporter that suffers a comical string of providential events that prevent her from leaving the small town and pursuing her politically correct ambitions and goals. Accepting of these events and starting over after coming home, Claire finds that she is not as reluctant to stay as she once was. Her faith develops in this story as she begins again at home, finding a reunited family, a genuine friend and a love interest through it all. Claire is defined in this novel with the comment "I didn't want to be here".

I truly enjoyed Cindy Martinusen's writing style. Beautiful landscape descriptions, authentic dialogue, and true struggles make this a novel well worth the time spent.

Gina Hendrix

Vessel Project Book Reviewer

http://vesselproject.blogspot.com

I am a book addict that is always looking for new authors whose work speaks to me in some form. What a delightful discovery to find this work by Cindy Martinusen. It is one of the most beautifully written stories I have come across in a long, long time. The character development is also such that I was able to imagine myself in the shoes of each person the story revolved around. I loved the mystery, the thoughtfulness, and the manner in which the author brought three very distinct lives together. A simply amazing read that I appreciate even more for the interwoven crises of faith each person had to confront. We all have to work out our faith, and this gives the story an authenticity that I have not found in some other Christian novels. I simply did not want it to end, and am excited to share it with others.