‘As Meat Loves Salt’ by Maria McCann
Well…where to start with this tale. I have devoured this book in about 2 days because I couldn’t put it down. It is gut wrenching, chilling but loving all at the same time.
Our tale is set in 1645, right in the middle of the English Civil War and starts with the discovery of a body in a country estate, then throws you into the brutal civil war, then pulls you into the bustling city of London and then to the hard and difficult life of colonists trying to create a new life.
McCan paints a vivid picture of being in the army during this bloody conflict and does not shy away from the gore and horror of warfare. The chapter with the siege of a royalist stronghold was described so vividly it was playing like a film sequence in my head and my breath was caught in my throat for most of the time. For a moment, I actually felt something like sympathy for Jacob as I felt like I was with him every second.
You see this brutal world through the eyes of an equally brutal and selfish character, Jacob Cullen. This is on the whole not a nice person who use his physical force to get what he wants. And whenever he wants something, he has to completely possess it. The more he falls in love, the more unstable and obsessed he becomes. But there are moments of absolute tenderness when it is on Jacob’s terms. He can be kind and loyal. He has beautiful relationship with his older brother and can be cable of deep compassion. He is a fascinating individual and McCann has weaved his unpredictability into the pages, making it impossible for you to stop reading. You cannot predict what he is going to do but it this what makes the story so exciting.
This truly is a tale of dark obsession but it is compelling and this story pulls you into Jacob’s twisted world and doesn’t let you go. I think this will be a book that will linger in my mind for a long time. This is not a light read, nor is it for the faint hearted to let Jacob Cullen into your world, he won’t ever leave.
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