''The Lost Salt Gift of Blood'' is a collection of short stories by Canadian author

Alistair MacLeod Alistair MacLeod, (July 20, 1936 – April 20, 2014) was a Canadian novelist, short story writer and academic. His powerful and moving stories vividly evoke the beauty of Cape Breton Island's rugged landscape and the resilient character of m ...

. It was originally published in 1976. All of the stories contained in the collection were later republished in the book ''

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

'', along with the stories from his collection ''

As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories ''As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories'' is a collection of short stories by Canadian author Alistair MacLeod set predominantly in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and in Newfoundland. It was originally published in 1986. All of its st ...

''. According to the blurb of the book; "The evocative and haunting collection is set

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, a remote region where Gaelic is still spoken, old legends live on, and the same cold sea that washes the Hebrides beats against the granite cliffs. With a tearing lyricism, The Lost Salt Gift of Blood lays bare the joys, the fears, the darkness, and the shining hope of communities whose isolation is at once a curse and a blessing." The style of the writing contained in the book is such that the descriptions of the people, their thoughts, fears and eccentricities, as well as the detailed and warm descriptions of the events in the book are the main focus, rather than the events themselves having any complexity. A 1994 translation of the book into French by Florence Bernard, titled ''Cet heritage au gout de sel'', won the

John Glassco Translation Prize The John Glassco Translation Prize is an annual Canadian literary award, presented by the Literary Translators' Association of Canada to a book judged the year's best translation into either English or French of a work originally written in any l ...

in 1995.

Stories

* "In the Fall" * "The Vastness of the Dark" * "The Lost Salt Gift of Blood" * "The Return" * "The Golden Gift of Grey" * "The Boat" * "The Road to Rankin's Point"

External links

Detailed Review and Analysis - Studies in Canadian Literature
1976 short story collections New Canadian Library Short story collections by Alistair MacLeod McClelland & Stewart books {{1970s-story-collection-stub