Jennifer Givhan's 'Salt Bones' is a triumph

In “Salt Bones,” Albuquerque author Jennifer Givhan delivers a searing, genre-blending story that slips between myth, horror and aching human truth. Set in the blistering borderlands of the Salton Sea, this novel reimagines the myth of Persephone and Demeter while grounding the reader in a community haunted by loss, longing and cultural memory.

Malamar Veracruz, a mother of two, is still grappling with the long-ago disappearance of her sister when another local girl goes missing. From the first page, Givhan builds a mounting sense of dread that feels as rooted in emotional truth as it is in supernatural possibility. “No one knows it’s a horror story when it begins,” Mal observes early on, and the story proves her right.

What makes “Salt Bones” stand out is its unflinching emotional depth. Givhan explores the raw edges of motherhood, generational trauma and the lingering effects of colonization. Malamar’s story is intimate and terrifying, laced with hallucinations and memories that blur the lines of reality.

“The loathing, the fear, the guilt, it’s distinctly mothered,” she reflects, capturing the crushing paradox of maternal love.

As a Latina reader and mother, I found this story deeply resonant. Mal is my age. Her children are my children’s age. Her memories of growing up in the 1990s, her use of Spanglish and her fierce attachment to family all felt deeply familiar. This novel doesn’t just tell a story; it reflects lived experience, particularly for those of us who carry both pride and pain in our cultural inheritance.

Givhan’s prose is lyrical and unrelenting. The mystery unfolds with the surreal pacing of a fever dream, yet it never loses its emotional clarity.

“Whatever choice a mother makes is the wrong one,” Mal says. That line alone captures the impossible burden that so many women carry, especially in communities where survival often comes at the cost of silence.

The depiction of sisterhood is just as powerful. “Everything else fades away when a sibling does,” Mal admits, and that single truth lingers on every page. The loss of a sister reverberates through the whole family, each person fractured in a different way. It’s this emotional core that anchors the novel, even as the shadows stretch longer and darker.

“Salt Bones” is a triumph. It is chilling and beautiful, heart-wrenching and restorative. It grapples with environmental injustice, cultural erasure and familial duty without ever sacrificing its sharp, poetic voice.

“One lost daughter shatters a world. When there’s nothing left to shatter, what else can break? What else but everything?”

This is one of the most unforgettable books I’ve read this year. Haunting. Sacred. Necessary.

Kara Sandoval is a bookseller at Books on the Bosque, located at 6261 Riverside Plaza Lane, Suite A-2, or at booksonthebosque.com.