Thirst for Salt

Madelaine Lucas author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Oneworld Publications

Published:4th May '23

£9.99

Available for immediate dispatch.

Thirst for Salt cover

 

A heady story about a life-changing summer romance, perfect for fans of A Theatre for Dreamers and Sorrow & Bliss

'A love affair so richly and attentively imagined it carries the grace and gravity of memory itself.' Leslie Jamison

Our narrator is twenty-four years old when she and her mother arrive in the tiny coastal town of Sailors Beach. Their holiday, she hopes, will be a pause between her life as a student and whatever happens next. Summer stretches before her: unplanned, full of possibility. And into this space walks Jude. Finding herself pulled to this man twenty years her senior she begins losing herself in the simple, seductive rhythms of his everyday life.

Thirteen years later, she happens across a photo of Jude with a child. A photo that leaves her questioning choices she has made for herself. A photo that brings back memories of a summer that changed her forever.

A magnetic story of the complexities of desire, and a powerful reckoning with memory, loss and longing, Madelaine Lucas' debut novel reveals, with stunning, sensual immediacy the way the past can hold us in its thrall, shaping who we are and what we love. 

'A mesmerizing portrait of a romance with graceful, seductive writing.' Bustle

BustleLitHubDebutiful, and NYLON Most Anticipated Book of 2023

Goodreads Buzziest Book of the New Year * A DEBUTIFUL 'Best Book of 2023 Jan-June'

'Lush and gorgeous... A delicious read, beautifully written and emotionally satisfying.' New York Times


'This intimate debut charts the course of a formative age-gap love affair set evocatively on the wild coast of Australia's New South Wales... A poignant exploration of love, need, desire, time and motherhood.' Daily Mail


'Thirst for Salt gripped me immediately, with the tender acuity of its voice and the propulsive electricity of the relationship at its core.' Leslie Jamison, author of The Recovering


'[A] sly, sensual debut about mothers and lovers... Lucas's writing is soft and sinuous, as sensual when she's detailing the landscape as she is about sex.' Sunday Telegraph


'A woman looks back on a lifechanging summer in her 20s, when she fell in love with a much older man, in this nuanced love story. The descriptions of the small coastal town in Australia are so beautiful that you will want to visit.' Good Housekeeping


'A mesmerizing portrait of a romance with graceful, seductive writing... This novel has a sea glass quality - timeworn, beautiful, worth holding onto.' Bustle


'Luscious and melancholy... Sensual and electric.' Foreword Reviews (starred review)


'A sensual coming-of-age novel.' NYLON


'I'm astounded this is a debut and was swept away with the exquisite writing.' Prima


'The writing is rich, sensuous and attentive... As a novel that illustrates the need to organise life into narrative, such fealty to the past self is refreshing.' Irish Times


'Lucas writes as if she's telling the story at a dinner party, with a lingering pace and an easy familiarity with the characters.' Guardian

ISBN: 9780861546497

Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 24mm

Weight: unknown

336 pages

B-Format Original