A Woman of Salt: A Novel

by Mary Potter Engel

After receiving word that her mother is dying and asking for her, Ruth VanderZicht struggles with mixed emotions and conflicting desires as she tries to decide whether or not to respond and finds herself torn between her secular beliefs and desperate longing for a spiritual relationship with God. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Elizabeth Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely, thoughtful writing. This novel wrestles with the conundrum of being embodied spirit.

[Ilana Diamant · Rating 1 out of 5]

Melodrama + (what the reviewers call midrash) = melodramatic novel. In other words, you can't add midrash to anything out there let alone easy emotion and melodrama and expect it to transform it into a worthwhile novel, the result will still be melodrama. You need to start with a good novel, insights into the characters and you need to have something to say, and then the addition or interweaving of midrash can change a good novel into a great one. That's not what Mary Potter has done with this book.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, intriguing, well-written, but a bit hard to stay with.

[Nora · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only gave this 3 stars, because it can be a little tedious, and somewhat tiresome. But, I think about this book fairly often, which is a huge bonus! I will read this one again!

[Cara]

Picked this up for vacation, but apparently I've read it before. Don't remember what happens, but it seems like it will be depressing. Back it goes.