Pillars of Salt

by Barbara Paul

In the 21st century, young girls receive sex education training via time travel into the minds and bodies of women who lived in previous centuries. Youngsters relive great moments in history, and adults safely experience real-life segments of the past. But nobody realizes that this great achievement may also have its dangerous side, until Angie Patterson finds herself trapped in the body of Elizabeth Tudor. In trying to escape, she discovers a secret which could jeopardize the past, present, and future of her world.

Genres: Science Fiction

183 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Barbara Paul is an American writer of detective stories and science fiction. She was born in Maysville, Kentucky, in 1931 and was educated, inter alia, at Bowling Green State University and the University of Pittsburgh.

A number of her novels feature in-jokes: for example Full Frontal Murder borrows various names from the British TV series Blake's 7.

Reviews

[Douglas Castagna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wife found this for 25 cents at our favorite used book store, and I decided to read it first. The novel concerns time travel to our past, in order to learn empirically. The novel is rife with history, philosophy and laden with theoretical hypotheses of time travel and the ramifications that lie therein. The novel manages to avoid the normal paradoxes that usually accompany this type of story and manages to focus on some serious questions dealing with it. A great speculative read that will stir up your synapses.

[Stirling Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book. it combined ethereal and philosophical questions while keeping the reader focused on the action of the story. it is a must read

[marimeri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sobre el viaje en el tiempo, con igual enfoque entre desarrollo de la trama y cuestionamiento ético/filosófico, lo que significa un evento significativo, y la amistad entre mujeres ante todo!! sin payasear o andar de mamador con el lenguaje o las propuestas. Es exactamente el tipo de libro que me hubiera encantado leer en la secundaria cuando estaba obsesionada con The Hunger Games y otras distopías YA. No sé si cambia de contexto por la traducción al italiano, que hablan mucho de Garibaldi y la unificación de Italia, el Dr “Genoni”… No pude encontrar la versión gringa original. Chance le doy 4.5 estrellas nomás porque no me lo esperaba, y soporten. Ya decidí que goodreads va a ser mi diario personal porque no sé dónde más poner estas cosas.

Toca tantos temas desde el privilegio académico de acceso a la información, quien tiene el derecho a definir la historia y cómo esa perspectiva lo cambia todo, lo que significa imponer un modelo de vida sobre una población a la cual no perteneces, el valor que le damos a sacrificar el bienestar humano por la humanidad y también a la comunidad vs el ego, cuestionar el sistema y denunciar la ineficiencia del gobierno, lo que pasa cuando se prohibe algo legalmente, como una sociedad tarda en cambiar de mentalidad cuando se propone una nueva forma de entender las cosas, y lo más chistoso para mí, que todo mundo tiene un psiquiatra en este futuro, y hasta eso explora la instrumentalización de la salud mental para respaldar los intereses del estado.

Palabras / frases que aprendí en italiano:
* facendo il galoppino - haciendo el trabajo sucio / andar de pinche
* svogliati - huevones
* spacciando - traficando
* lusinghiero - halagador
* vite scialbe - vidas sin chiste
* arcigno - antipático
* fare gli schizzi - bocetar
* sguscio - pelarse 
* inciampando - tropezando
* impacciata - torpe
* alquanto sciocca - medio mensa
* ignota - desconocida
* che sciocchezza! - que pendejada
* s'inceppò - se atascó
* sa scattata quella faccenda- hay que resolver ese rollo
* chiassosi avversari - rivales ruidosos
* imboccare la strada giusta - tomar el camino correcto
* cosiddetto - dizque
* selvaggio, ben dosato, imbattute, diamine!

[Rose Pagan]

This is my FAVORITE sci-fi book! The description about sex education really only pertains to the very beginning of the book. The actual plot is reminiscent of historical fiction; about time travel and the affects of it in the past and future. It is fucking amazing. You can get a paperback for $2.50 on Amazon. Read this NOW!

[Mirko Liang · Rating 2 out of 5]

A time traveling/body possession tale.