Salina: The Three Exiles

(Paperback)

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When Salina dies, it falls to her youngest son to tell her story, a story of violence and suffering, vengeance and passion. Exiled three times, the first time as a newborn abandoned outside a village by a mysterious horseman, Salina was taken in and raised by a clan that only ever saw her as a stranger and an enemy to be defeated. Three times a mother, her children born from strife, Salina never knew love, and revenge became her reason to live.

For her to gain admittance to the cemetery, to a place of peace at last, Salina's son must face up and tell the tale of Salinas ordeals, her rape the most harrowing, in minute detail. He has no choice but to give voice to all the hardship that for years fed into Salina's rage.

With this short novel set in an ancestral world, Laurent Gaud explores a narrative space where time flows to rhythmic rituals, where fate blurs to legend, and secrets become myth.

Reviews

A striking reflection on exile and vengeance. * France5 *
With this sun scorched ode of a novel, Gaud confirms he is one of our greatest storytellers. * Les Echos *

Author Bio

Laurent Gaude is a French novelist and playwright. After being nominated for the 2002 Prix Goncourt with The Death of King Tsongor, he won the award in 2004 for his novel The House of Scorta. Europa Editions published his novel Hear Our Defeats, and his essay in free verse Our Europe.

Alison Anderson's translations for Europa Editions include novels by Selim Nassib, Amelie Nothomb, and Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. She is the translator of The Elegance of the Hedgehog and The Life of the Elves by Muriel Barbery.