Review by Ian Keogh
Vonceil is twelve, her whole life spent among a farming family in a small Oklahoma town. Salt Magic picks up in 1919 and the return of her oldest brother Elber from World War I service, when at the station he proposes to the girl that’s waited for him for two years. Vonceil isn’t impressed with what she refers to as a town girl, but the marriage goes ahead despite a relative with mental problems attempting to assault the bride as a witch.
In creating Vonceil, Hope Larson seems to have had Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird in mind. She’s similarly smart, stubborn and resourceful, and also not entirely old to enough to come to terms with the world around her. Most prominently, she doesn’t understand that Elber now has other responsibilities. Something she picks up on, though, is that there’s a connection between him and the glamorous, yet pallid woman who turns up in town one day. It’s here that Salt Magic takes a strange turn and the meaning of the title becomes clear.
Rebecca Mock is an artist with a great work ethic. There’s not a page of sketchiness, glossing over what’s needed, or moving the viewpoint in so close she only needs to draw expressions on faces. Instead the farmland of Oklahoma is alluringly drawn, the people are stylish and have personalities, and when the mystical aspects manifest Mock draws them as if they belonged to our world. They feature in a glorious spread toward the end.
It’s an abrupt gear change from the reality of Waltons-era America to sorcery, and it requires a whole chapter of explanation, before another crunch as the plot shifts into danger for Vonceil. It’s not subtle, and it’s not all necessary, the crashing from once aspect to the next clumsy. By the time everything’s back on track it’s clear the magical aspects are destined to predominate, and some are just too convenient, such as Greda, the main threat, enlisting as a wartime nurse in France to stave off boredom.
The narrative awkwardness might not be as apparent to younger readers, which is good, because at the core Salt Magic is a thrilling adventure and dark fable with clever moments starring a likeable and persistent leading character. Larson also opts for a sweet, but also strangely downbeat ending, indicating individuality, and it’s praiseworthy as not many authors would have taken that route.
