The Salty Taste of the Wind

A bittersweet chronicle of the transition from childhood to adolescence.

 

Caroline Toury’s first novel shows a very promising talent. With a simple style, the story is both gripping and deeply moving.

 

Prudence grew up on a boat, sailing with the wind, following her parents’ dream. This novel takes us from African coasts to the West Indies, through a detour to the United States. The tragedy is tangible from the very beginning, in the background of this story about the idyllic life of a welded family. The mother’s betrayal and the parents’ break-up are portrayed through the eyes of a rebellious teenager, who was snatched from her dream life. Prudence has to start over in an unknown environment. Like the hermit crab, she will have to find a bigger shell to fit her.

 

This novel is about this erratic and fragile time, with the memory of a lifetime of travels and adventures gradually fading away to make room for the resilience of the heroine and her family. We follow Prudence’ s memories between her former life on the boat, and her new life in the city of Nantes, in France. 

 

Themes: journey, teenage years, break-up

 

AWARDS

 

• Shortlisted for the prix Cendres.

 

IN THE MEDIA

 

"Caroline Toury, with its delicate and poetic writing, subtly tells the story of Prudence. The narrative alternates between her childhood on her parents' boat and her life as a teenager in Nantes. How does a young girl manage to rebuild herself after so much wandering and fragility?" — Slate (France)

 

"A delightful surprise, this debut novel draws us in from the very first pages. Its fluid writing reveals a great deal of delicacy and sensitivity. Young Prudence is not a character we’ll forget any time soon." - La revue de livres pour enfants / BNF (France)