The Salt Roads
core novel 2003 The Salt Roads
Record
| First published | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.84 (2,554 ratings, collected 2026-09-05) |
| Page count | 416 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780446533027 |
Synopsis
The Salt Roads is a 2003 novel that follows how Ezili, the African goddess of love, is drawn into physical existence in the world through the grief-powered prayers of three women living in three very different eras and places. Mer is an enslaved healer on an eighteenth-century Caribbean sugar plantation; Jeanne Duval is a mixed-race dancer and lover of the poet Charles Baudelaire in nineteenth-century Paris; and Meritet is a Nubian prostitute in ancient Alexandria whose path eventually crosses with early Christian history. Rooted deeply in Caribbean history, African diaspora religion, and the enduring legacy of slavery, the novel moves fluidly between these three women's intertwined lives, letting the nascent goddess herself experience, and gradually come to understand, the shared suffering and resilience that called her into being across so many centuries.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Salt Roads
- Series: not part of a registered series (standalone work within its universe)
- Author: Nalo Hopkinson
Awards (verified)
- Nebula Award (Best Novel), 2003: finalist
Sources
← The Salt Roads dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.