image of person or book cover 6779735539866351593.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon Salt Rain single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2004... 2004 Salt Rain
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

When fourteen-year-old Allie's mother, Mae, mysteriously disappears in the dark waters of the harbor, Allie begrudgingly sets off with Julia, an aunt she barely knows, to stay at the dairy farm where her mother grew up. As the days pass and the heat of the wet season swells, Allie waits for her mother's call, certain that she will reappear. While Julia - determined to undo the damage her family has inflicted upon the land - replants the trees of the forest, Allie lurks around the cabin belonging to her mother's first love, a man who still lives deep within the valley. But when the truth about Mae's childhood and Allie's mythical father, the balloon man, begins to surface, Allie must come to grips with the lies her mother has told her and the secrets buried within the mud-rich landscape. Source: Book Jacket

Notes

  • Dedication: For Joel
  • Armstrong notes on her web site that an Australian film production company has bought the rights to make a film of the novel.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • San Francisco, California,
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      MacAdam/Cage ,
      2006 .
      image of person or book cover 4022399819953369403.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online (pbk ed.)
      Alternative title: Salt Rain : A Novel
      Reprinted: 2007 (pbk ed.)
      ISBN: 1596921730, 9781596922181 (pbk), 1596922184 (pbk)
    • Toronto, Ontario,
      c
      Canada,
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Anchor Canada ,
      2007 .
      image of person or book cover 3374490989974362763.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 224p.p.
      Reprinted: 2010 (ebk)
      Note/s:
      • Published 13 August 2010.
      ISBN: 9780385672269 (ebk), 9780385664073 (pbk)

Other Formats

  • Also sound recording.

Works about this Work

Presumed Dead : Gothic Representations of the Missing Person in Contemporary Australian Literature Emma Doolan , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: Aeternum : The Journal of Contemporary Gothic Studies , vol. 3 no. 1 2016; (p. 1-15)

This article considers the ways contemporary Australian writers Sarah Armstrong (in Salt Rain, 2004) and Jessie Cole (in Darkness of the Edge of Town, 2012) use the Gothic to articulate the uncertainties of the state of being missing, representing the missing person as liminal in Victor Turner's sense, a kind of undead figure who mediates between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead.

Shelf Live of the Aussie Book Dawn Cohen , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Author , December vol. 37 no. 3 2005; (p. 13-17)
Dawn Cohen considers how short-lived the shelf life of Australian books are and proposes ways to remedy this.
Bali Inspiration Beckons Reader Reg Anderson , 2005 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 20 - 21 August 2005; (p. 7)
Prize Fighters Booked for Crack at the Franklin Murray Waldren , 2005 single work column
— Appears in: The Australian , 22 April 2005; (p. 3)
Dark Downs Thriller Stands Tall on Short List Rosemary Sorensen , 2005 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 22 April 2005; (p. 3)
Right as Rain Katharine England , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 7 August 2004; (p. 11)

— Review of Toccata & Rain : A Novel Philip Salom , 2004 single work novel ; Salt Rain Sarah Armstrong , 2004 single work novel
In Short : Fiction Michael McGirr , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 7-8 August 2004; (p. 13)

— Review of Murder by Manuscript Steve J. Spears , 2004 single work novel ; Salt Rain Sarah Armstrong , 2004 single work novel
A Branch of Rural Gothic Penelope Davie , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 14 August 2004; (p. 8)

— Review of Salt Rain Sarah Armstrong , 2004 single work novel
Paperbacks Ian McFarlane , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: Canberra Sunday Times , 15 August 2004; (p. 18)

— Review of Salt Rain Sarah Armstrong , 2004 single work novel ; Furies John Charalambous , 2004 single work novel
Salty Water Lorien Kaye , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 264 2004; (p. 48-49)

— Review of Salt Rain Sarah Armstrong , 2004 single work novel ; Rhubarb Craig Silvey , 2004 single work novel ; Ash Rain Corrie Hosking , 2004 single work novel
Dark Downs Thriller Stands Tall on Short List Rosemary Sorensen , 2005 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 22 April 2005; (p. 3)
Prize Fighters Booked for Crack at the Franklin Murray Waldren , 2005 single work column
— Appears in: The Australian , 22 April 2005; (p. 3)
Bali Inspiration Beckons Reader Reg Anderson , 2005 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 20 - 21 August 2005; (p. 7)
Shelf Live of the Aussie Book Dawn Cohen , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Author , December vol. 37 no. 3 2005; (p. 13-17)
Dawn Cohen considers how short-lived the shelf life of Australian books are and proposes ways to remedy this.
Presumed Dead : Gothic Representations of the Missing Person in Contemporary Australian Literature Emma Doolan , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: Aeternum : The Journal of Contemporary Gothic Studies , vol. 3 no. 1 2016; (p. 1-15)

This article considers the ways contemporary Australian writers Sarah Armstrong (in Salt Rain, 2004) and Jessie Cole (in Darkness of the Edge of Town, 2012) use the Gothic to articulate the uncertainties of the state of being missing, representing the missing person as liminal in Victor Turner's sense, a kind of undead figure who mediates between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead.

Last amended 13 Jul 2021 12:41:05
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