Review Detail

What can cause a family eruption every time the family gets together? In The Sweetness of Salt by Cecelia Galante, Julia is going to finally find out. She just graduated from high school, valedictorian. Her sister, Sophie, 8 years older, surprised her by coming to the graduation from Vermont, a long drive to Ohio. But as usual when Sophie visits, the family dinner that night was tense and it all stemmed from their life in Milford, where they lived before Julia was even born. Something happened that no one will talk about.

Sophie’s latest outburst, and abrupt departure back home, causes Julia’s parents to finally tell her the ‘truth’. She had a sister, Maggie, who died when she was four from asthma. Julia is incensed. How could her entire family keep such a secret from her? This revelation causes Julia to also abruptly depart, to visit Sophie and hear her side of the story. Why would she, of all people, keep the secret? Julia’s initial plan was to stay the weekend and return to start her legal internship on Monday, in preparation for her carefully planned out legal career. However Sophie is having a hard time telling her what happened, it is so painful. Sensing the story will come out over time, Julia decides to stay longer causing her parent’s anger to erupt since her father obtained the internship for her and his work has come undone.

Cecelia Galante has written a charming book. Julia is a typical teenager, book smart but not real life smart, unsure about the future, insecure about the boy she likes. Sophie could be the stereotypical older sister, a rebel with a cause, who loves Julia but doesn’t know how to convey the emotion. Their parents are overprotective, as are many. It becomes apparent that there is more to the story that was told to Julia by her parents. The relationship that develops between Julia and Sophie as the story unfolds, the self realization that Julia undergoes, the ancillary characters including ‘The Table of Knowledge’ as well as the very descriptive writing converge to make this book appealing. Despite the tragedy of Maggie, readers will smile as they read The Sweetness of Salt. (I won’t tell you why that’s the title. Find out for yourself.)