Salt Dancers

by Ursula Hegi

Salt Dancers is at once a brilliant portrait of an American family, a story of the secrets families guard, and a moving account of one woman's journey back to a past filled with elusive memories and suppressed rage. Why did Julia's mother disappear one day without so much as a word? How did a loving father who taught her such a beautiful thing as the salt dance become such a terrifying and abusive presence? These are the questions which Julia must confront when she returns to Spokane, Washington, after an absence of twenty-three years.
Salt Dancers , a superbly written novel, is a poignant and truthful chronicle of self-discovery and the power of resurrection.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Novels, Book Club, Literature, Adult Fiction, Modern

240 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1995

About the author

Ursula Hegi is a German-born American writer. She is currently an instructor in the MFA program at Stony Brook Southampton.
She was born Ursula Koch in 1946 in Düsseldorf, Germany, a city that was heavily bombed during World War II. Her perception growing up was that the war was avoided as a topic of discussion despite its evidence everywhere, and The Holocaust was a particularly taboo topic. This had a strong effect on her later writing and her feelings about her German identity.
She left West Germany in 1964, at the age of 18. She moved to the United States in 1965, where she married (becoming Ursula Hegi) in 1967 and became a naturalized citizen the same year. In 1979, she graduated from the University of New Hampshire with both a bachelor's and master's degree. She was divorced in 1984. The same year, she was hired at Eastern Washington University, in Cheney, Washington, near Spokane, Washington, where she became an Associate Professor and taught creative writing and contemporary literature.
Hegi's first books were set in the United States. She set her third, Floating in My Mother's Palm, in the fictional German town of "Burgdorf," using her writing to explore her conflicted feelings about her German heritage. She used the setting for three more books, including her best selling novel Stones from the River, which was chosen for Oprah's Book Club in 1997. Hegi appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 8, and her publisher reprinted 1.5 million hardcover copies and 500,000 paperbacks. She subsequently moved from Spokane to New York City.
Hegi's many awards include an NEA Fellowship and five PEN Syndicated Fiction Awards. She won a book award from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) in 1991 for Floating in My Mother's Palm. She has also had two New York Times Notable Book mentions. She has written many book reviews for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post.

Reviews

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently have read several books that I found depressing and this one certainly fits into that category. It, again, has me pondering if a good book is a book that you *enjoy* reading or if a good book is one that is capable of allowing you to experience the extreme emotions of the characters. In Salt Dancers, the main character, Julia, has returned to her childhood town after a absence of 20 years to seek answers and heal her troubled childhood. As those who has experienced turmoil in childhood well know, these are often elusive and complex tasks. As in real life, the answers are not what you want to hear, only filling you with more questions, and the healing part involves realizing that you may always have a scab that is easily removed to reveal the original wound. This book made me cringe the whole way through and then cry at the end. I decided that this is a "good" book, beautifully and believably written, but I don't know if I would reccommend reading it back-to-back with other heart-wrenching stories.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to give Ms. Hegi a 3 on anything; her previous novels rank among some of my favorite books.
This book, however, didn't move me on nearly the same level. It's not so much a novel as a really long character study. I didn't connect with Julia on any level and end up far more fascinated with her brother... what's the rest of *his* story? I guess that's where my disappointment is rooted - in books like Stones from the River, there's such a weaving of lives, stories, etc. Here all we get is Julia, who's not very interesting or likeable. She hasn't made much of her life (that we know about)... so I couldn't really get invested.

[Marcy Rae Henry · Rating 1 out of 5]

**this whole review contains spoilers**

liked the approach she had with 'dancing in my mother's palm,' but this book was a far cry from the best parts of that. the plot is simple, but thin.

not of the lispector attitude: 'it it thru tremendous effort that i keep my life simple.'

i don't care enough about the narrator to get involved in her drama. the characters, friendships and familial relationships are somewhat infuriating. the whole premise of the book rests upon the confrontation with the father. but is he truly 'forgetful' or slightly demented? tho it is Not at all a satisfactory confrontation for the protag, it is particularly awful as far as development for the reader. unbelievable that she went all that way to see dad after years and didn't try to understand his denial or what was behind it/causing it. so hegi, to cover that lack, intro's the mom at the end? bad. and even less developed and believable. it's a bad crutch.

what is really bothersome is that the narrator continuously Apologizes to parents for confronting them for beating her, abusing her and abandoning her. it would be infuriating if i cared for the narrator. but her relationship w her gay [how convenient] bff is simply contrived and not heartfelt.

i know people feel bad and compassionate after/during confronting people, esp parents. but to write an entire book setting up a confrontation--bc the narrator is reluctantly pregnant--and having her repeatedly apologize for that which the book is based on.....

well, this equals a one star read.

and the mom is a terrible character who, knowing her husband is a drunk and an even more abusive drunk when he's drunk Leaves her children with said drunk....that is tenuous at best for a believable plot line that could elevate discussion about these issues.

[AJ Nolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Hegi's Stones By The River, but I wonder if I've now been "spoiled" by my MFA turning into a more discriminating reader. Or maybe she just wrote a thudder on this one. Bits of it were lovely, but mostly it lacked tension, had slack dialogue, and was ultimately a character study, not a story. And, in that, I fear what I hate most about this book is what I do the most of in my own writing - i.e. sit back and study a character and fail to actually tell a story.

[Debbie Bateman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have only started this book, but already I love it. The writing is gorgeous, imaginative and brave. Did I mention gypsies?

Well, I finished the book. While I still think it is beautifully written and I'm glad that I read it, I was disappointed in how the story unravelled. It seems to me that she backed away from the depth of betrayal the daughter must have felt over her absentee and abusive father. I found the psuedo reconciliation between the two of them unbelievable.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The salt dance of the title refers to a family tradition that walking over a line of salt will mean leaving cares behind. The novel clarifies that this is not so simply possible, but it also indicates that a new beginning is possible.

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptional. Beautifully written, and the weaving of the past, present and future was masterful. A look at the relationship between imagination and memory, vision and reality. So incredibly detailed, nearly every page made me shiver in recognition--not because the events have happened to me, but because the descriptions were so spot-on that I felt like it was I that was living them, not the characters in the book.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know what to say in this review. I'm very ambivalent towards this book. It started out slowly and I didn't think I would bother finishing it, but then sections got much better and more interesting, but even as I was drawn into it, I just didn't care much. I finished with a feeling of "Why was this written?"

[Kelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

a pretty confusing book about a pregnant-at-41 woman’s complicated relationship with her abusive alcoholic father and her absent mother who left when she was a child. I thought the language of this book was really beautiful and it didn’t take me long to read the book but I wish there was a little more resolution at the end. Instead of a crescendo, this book pretty much ended with a thud.

[Dominic Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok - Normally she is one of my favorite authors - but while the language and descriptions were well written in her typical style - it felt slight - like not a fully fleshed out story? Enjoyable but not my favorite of her books.

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julia Ives never thought she would ever have children. But she has become pregnant and finds herself looking back at her childhood and seeking answers — to ensure that she will not repeat the things that happened in her youth, her memories of betrayal and abandonment, a father that demanded endless love.

The subject of this book is poignant, a story of an American family, loss and a journey of self-discovery and redemption. But what really brings this story to full color and meaning, it is the terrific writing of Ursula Hegi. The story flows leading slowly and gradually to Julia gaining acceptance not only her past but what will happen in the future.

[Cece · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard for me to decide whether or not I enjoyed reading this book. It was sad, and the action was sparse among the extensive memories and thoughts of the narrator. What I can say is that Hegi's writing is so realistic; her characters felt incredibly real and deserving of the empathy I inherently gave them. I connected with and understood the narrator very well. I appreciated getting to know her in the focused manner established by Hegi. This novel, though it could have used a little more story, thankfully lacked cliches that would have made this moving exploration into nothing more than "a sad book."

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hegi writes another emotionally compelling story about families and relationships. When 41 year old Julia finds herself pregnant and unmarried she decides to confront the emotional issues from her childhood regarding her parents divorce and her father's subsequent decline into alcoholism and abuse. She soon finds herself also trying to deal with the fact that her mother abandoned the children with their father and trying to find the truth about her mother was as a person rather than this idealized vision she holds of her from her childhood and finds much to add to her heartbreak as well as things that bring her comfort and strength for raising her own child.

The parts of the book that I enjoyed most were her remembrances of times in her childhood and how as an adult she learns to reconcile those memories with the actual facts of the situations that occurred.

[Austen to Zafón · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's say Hegi had never written Stones From the River. I might have liked this book more. But SFTR is a hard act to follow and I found this book fell flat for me. It's too bad. Nonetheless, I'll continue to read what Hegi puts out because she is a superb writer and you never know when she might again reach the heights of SFTR.

[Suzette · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful portrait of a woman searching for the truths about her family which fell apart when she was very young. The story examines the stories and lies we tell ourselves as part of our family history. Hegi's prose is always excellent and, although this is a very raw story of abuse, it is also very illuminating about family interrelationships.

[Jeanmarie Nielsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply beautiful writing...the story of a family, splintered and devastated, and told by the daughter. Julia's fantasies and remembrances are sprinkled throughout the narrative, italicized moments in phrase or long imagined scenes. Though the pain, inflicted by both mother and father, cannot be retracted, there is reconciliation.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

I remember liking Stones from the River, but this book seems heavy-handed, cliché, and, well, boring. Sorry Ursula.

[Lee Roversi · Rating 3 out of 5]

sometimes i stick with a book because of the compelling writing, even though the subject matter is emotionally dark. so it was with this book for me.

[Nranger7 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved Stones From the River. Apparently I dislike everything else Hegi has written. This one hit too close to home and just made me angry. I am on an online support group for children with shitty parents so I'm used to reading stories of abuse and giving advice. The character of Julia seems like one of the whiny people I can't stand who constantly apologize for being abused and refuse to listen to reason.

Julia had it made not having contact with her abusive father for over 20 years and then she had to see him again in hopes of getting an apology. I hate this. Abusers never take responsibility for their actions. Mothers do not deserve to be on pedestals. Not all parents love their children and not everyone gets the parents they deserve. Accept it and move on.

Not Julia. She disassociates from reality which is normal for someone who was abused as a child. She has trouble with relationships which is also normal. However, I just don't care about this person. I don't like her. I don't like her pathetic excuses for her behavior. I don't like her constant whining about her parents and her brother. I especially don't like people keeping stupid secrets and claiming it's best for the children. Just no. I finished the book in the hopes something would make it better and the ending was a huge letdown. Which is pretty bad when the whole book was irritating to read.

[lex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been sitting on my shelf for years. I don’t remember where I got it or why I purchased it. Every time I’ve moved (which has been many), this book made it with me because I kept thinking I’d get to it soon. This last move, however, I decided to part with it, thinking if I hadn’t read it by now, I never would. My stack of book donations ended up coming with me since any of the places I would donate books are still closed.

Due to quarantine, I pulled Salt Dancers from the donation pile and started it. I became quickly pulled in and absolutely marvel every time at how a book can be around for so long without my touching it, but the moment I finally do, it hits home. I found this to be a lovely read, deeply moved by the dynamics and childhood parental trauma the characters experienced. Julia’s grappling with how her father could be both the loving, helpful, protective and caring father at the same time as the abusive one was prevalent throughout the book. Trying to hold both pieces with one hand. Her longing for her mother and the coping mechanisms she used after her disappearance. Feeling estranged from her family. Very relatable. A bonus was the story taking place in the PNW. Not a huge fan of the way she writes dialogue.

[Dennis Bolen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The grind involved in getting to the centre of Ursula Hegi’s novel, Salt Dancers, is leavened only by her skillful prose. Elegant sentences and a condensed, ornate emotional landscape must keep us going in an unclear, maddeningly protracted near-story of a woman returning to her paternal home after decades away. She has issues with her father. These are hinted at, implied, partially explained, but never presented dramatically. By the time we finally do get to the bottom of what is bugging our heroine, most power is lost.

We keep the book in our hands only because of the thrill of the occasional zinger of a sentence: When my father told me about his brother, I was in second grade and kept wondering what it would be like to grow up knowing there was already a gravestone with your name. Good prose counts for a lot, though a slow delivery costs. But I was ultimately forced away from Salt Dancers because of the transparency of the author’s agenda-driven intentions. I should have known there would be trouble when I read the dedication: For my women’s group.

[Polly Jaybird · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ugh! I feel so unresolved with this story. I don't understand how a book that carried such beautiful, descriptive writing for page after page could just falter at the end like that. I devoured and loved this book, but then could feel its unraveling six pages to the end (230) when Julia tried to use the tree as a metaphor for her mother. It felt so contrived and out of place from the author's usual language. And I kept waiting for Julia to go back to her father and have some kind of closure with him, but it never happened! It just abruptly ended and left us hanging. And not in a pondering way-- more like a "WTF," "checking if the book is missing some pages" way. Like, seriously-- I just went and grabbed the book and double checked that I didn't miss any pages.

If you told me that the author died before she finished the book and that the end was her family's attempt to complete it for her, I would believe it.

[krdito · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Ursula Hegi's writing, particularly Stones from the River. This too was well-written, but I found it a bit confusing. I wasn't sure which of Julia's memories were real and which were fabricated. A painful, sensitive story for sure, but at times, I wanted to shake each one of them and tell them to get over it. I did not find it credible that Julia did not want children for fear of repeating the abuse she received as a child. I felt that someone so conscientious of this is unlikely to repeat it. It also seemed unbelievable that a mother would just up and leave her children without a word, leaving them to wonder what happened to her into adulthood. Not Hegi's best story, but her writing is very good.

[Lyn Zuberbuhler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ursula Hegi is an accomplished writer. She expands on her main character extensively and sets time and place well. However, this novel is more of a character study as the action is limited, and most events are Julia’s memories.
The sadness in this story is palpable.....a child’s grief of having her mother disappear from her life and the consequences in the years between that event and her leaving home at 18 years of age.
After 23 years, Julia returns home to confront her father to reach some resolution to the trauma she faced as a child. She is not satisfied in this regard, but is offered new hope by a revelation from her aunt and uncle.
However, I never felt that this new discovery gave her joy.

[Elizabeth Rice · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading others’ reviews of the book, I don’t think I dislike it for the same reasons. I enjoyed reading it and read it very quickly. A lot of reviews said they didn’t like Julia, but I did.

SPOILERS However what I don’t understand is how easily Julia and Travis forgive their mother at the end. That whole ending- finally finding out what happened to their mother was disappointing. And how were her aunt and uncle actually oblivious to the fact she was getting abused by her father? It seems natural that he would turn to abusing his children once his wife left.

Overall though I thought the book did a good job with the complicated emotions Julia is feeling towards her father. But I probably wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, which is why I gave it 3 stars.

[Jan Kingsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the literary quality of Ursula Hegi’s writing. In this one she is in the mind of the main character, Julia, who is flawed in many ways as a result of her mother’s abandonment and the occasional beatings she receives from her father when he’s been drinking. As an adult, Julia’s search is to force her father to acknowledge the beatings he gave her, because his contrary behavior was to praise her, give her things, etc. As the story unfolds, the reader learns along with Julia the fallibility of memory and the misunderstandings which young people have for adults’ motives. She learns why her mother left. And much else.

[em · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are parts of this book i enjoyed because i think it was written well, but mostly this book was painful. It’s not something i see myself reading again or really recommending. I spent most of the book really wishing her mother would somehow return and i guess that was the intended feeling considering the main character also wished for that. I’m not sure if i find the ending satisfying or not, either way it just seems so completely painful to experience all of that. Also i wouldn’t say this is the right book to read if you’re trying to get out of a slump because this took me 2 months to finish simply because it was such an emotional story.

[Doris Powell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book. I had read previous books by this author and really liked them. In this book I could not relate to the main character, Julia. I found her a little too whiny. I did like her brother Travis and would like to have known about his character, why he took care of his father and why he specialized in yard sales. The ending was also abrupt. Very little was resolved. Did Julia forgive her father? Did her mother come to see her in Vermont or even keep in touch? Had her father really forgotten that he abused Julia? I felt dissatisfied with the story at the end.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of her books, but still interesting. I can't call it enjoyable because this is a sad book about a woman who has a failed marriage (because she didn't want children) and finds herself pregnant later in life. She has decided to confront her own demons before inflicting residual pain on her coming child. In doing so, you find abuse, deceit, abandonment, and other issues as she "returns home" after many years away.

Difficult as you're walking through this with her, but satisfaction for having been on the journey.

[Salela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hegi is one of my favorite authors. This was one of her earlier works that I’d never read. It was interesting to read from the perspective of knowing her later works. I can see in this novel where she is still developing her writing style and skills. I had a hard time grasping it in the first half but she pulls it all together on the second half and the ending is satisfying. The novel dips deep into the morass of complex human emotions and circumstances and explores the entanglements of human loss in a unique storyline.