A brief but powerful story. A gripping reflection on exile and revenge. — François Busnel, France 5 La Grande Librairie

A fantastic tale written in a style that manages to capture the heat of the desert in which it is set. — Anna Cuxac, Causette

As the novel pays tribute to the burning heat of the sun, Gaudé confirms title as one of our best storytellers. — Philippe Chevilley, Les Echos

What is the story of Salina, the mother of three sons, the woman thrice exiled, the abandoned soul who cried salt tears? Abandoned to the hyenas at the edge of a distant village, she was taken in by Mamambala and brought up as her own daughter within a clan who always considered her an outsider and sought to subjugate her. In her twilight years, as her youngest son reaches adulthood, he finds himself tasked with recounting her life so that she can find in death the peace that was refused to her in life, and so that her story can pass into legend. Ploughing once again the mythical and archaic furrows of La Mort du roi Tsongor, Laurent Gaudé creates in Salina another of those powerful but ill-starred women, formidable in love and implacable in their vengeance. The sweetness of these posthumous words will bring Salina tranquillity and finally afford her a place among her brethren. The novel as a form of ultimate homage to a wild and radiant heroine.

A novelist, short story writer and playwright born in 1972, Laurent Gaudé won the Prix Goncourt in 2004 for Le Soleil des Scorta. All of his works, which have been translated the world over, have been published by Actes Sud.