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Loading... As Meat Loves Salt (Harvest Original)by Maria McCann
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Following the descent of man into madness brought on by his obsessions may sound like a novel to avoid, however McCann's novel is beautifully written and is engaging and a great window into the misery of life in 16th century England. Violent, disturbing at times, but I found this book a fascinating read. (  )dugmel | Feb 26, 2009 |   Definitely one of the single most brilliant books I have ever ever read. It is perfect. On a par with the divine Sarah Waters. (  )Jstefanlari | Nov 9, 2008 | This is well researched historical fiction , atmospheric with vivid descriptions on the battlefields set during the English civil war. After a body is found in the pond of a royalist estate a man flees and enlists in the army. What follows in an obsession with a fellow soldier and a relationship that ultimately spirals downwards to a violent finale. ( )jeniwren | Oct 21, 2008 | 1  This is one of the books I point to when people look for examples of how historical fiction can be done well: meticulously researched, it has all the grit and texture and feel of life in seventeenth-century England, with all the political, religious and social upheaval that entailed. That said, while this is a gripping book, it is neither light nor fun reading: the protagonist, not to put too fine a point on it, an absolute bastard, and while the passages detailing the relationship between Jacob and Christopher are often quite beautiful and always erotic, it is not a healthy relationship. ( )siriaeve | Oct 16, 2008 | It’s been a long time since a book held me in its grip so completely I was unable to put it down. Fortunately, it’s the weekend and I could tune out all but the narrator, Jacob Cullen. To say Cullen is a troubled man is to gloss over what drives him. Impoverished at a young age and sent from his home with his brothers to serve a wealthy Royalist family during the English Civil War, Cullen grows up disillusioned, insecure and distrustful. Read more at http://fuzzyhistory.com/2008/07/12/as... ( )ladymacbeth1 | Jul 12, 2008 | 0.066 seconds to build listing  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 000655248X, Paperback)With her first book, As Meat Loves Salt, Maria McCann joins a small, esteemed company of writers--Umberto Eco and Gore Vidal among them--whose historical novels are meticulously researched, politically acute, and rattling good reads. Set in the 17th century, during the English civil war, As Meat Loves Salt follows the misadventures of Jacob, born a gentleman but raised a servant, whose overdeveloped sense of personal dignity leads him from one crisis to another. When the book opens, he is already a murderer. Within a hundred pages he becomes a rapist and a thief. All this is perfect training for a military career, and Jacob soon finds himself in Cromwell's New Model army and in thrall to a charismatic man named Ferris. "It was all pre-ordained," says Jacob later, when the men have deserted together, "there had never been a place where I could have leapt free of the net." Rich with period detail, multilayered, and erotic, this is a big, delicious novel with a hint of crunchy intellection. Expect a lost weekend. --Regina Marler(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:12 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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