The Book of Salt

The Book of Salt is the first novel-length work by Monique Truong. It has a fascinating concept and I'm daunted by the fact that she is the same age as me and has written such a beautiful debut novel.


"[He] came to us through an advertisement that I had in desperation put in the newspaper. It began captivatingly for those days: 'Two American ladies wish...'" It was these lines in "The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook" that inspired "The Book of Salt", a brilliant first novel by a talented young Vietnamese American writer about the taste of exile.


We know from history that Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas whilst they were living in Paris during the late '20s/early '30s had at different points two chefs from "Indochine". Nothing more is known. Truong picks up that point of unknown and spins it into a novel about love, identity, home and food. It is such a different book - extremely visual and sensual. The descriptions of cooking and eating are as visceral as the descriptions of the books' lovers.


It is a very slow moving novel with Binh (the vietnamese cook) recollecting his past in Vietnam, his present day loves in Paris and his constant discussions with his deceased father. My only complaint about The Book of Salt is that I thought it was less successful at investing Binh with enough of a character to really give the book depth. We read a lot about his thoughts about other characters and events but I never got a real feel for Binh himself. Nonetheless it was a lovely journey Although this book was not a great page turner for me, it was a lovely journey and I'm glad I read it (thanks to Kate B).


(The book is not to be confused with the Angelina Jolie movie 'Salt' as one of my friends did!)