Salt: We have shed blood for it. We have paid for it. In many ways it is priceless; in others, virtually worthless. Its presence can make or break a dinner, a culture, all life on Earth.

In Salt in the Wounds, Mark Blagrave reminds us of the dynamic, elementary, and precipitous relationship that people share with this simple molecule, and with each other. In “Transit of Venus,” a couple resort to salt as an ancient, folk-medicine, fertility aid; in “Rupert and Sophia,” online-auction bidding rivals bond over their rare, shared admiration for the beauty of an ornate salt cellar; in “Ageusia,” a woman’s relationship with a chef dissolves over her sudden inability to taste salt; and in “Love You Like Salt,” old friends become more than just that as they trade folk-tales about salt’s role in love and life.

Paracelsus said, “The dose makes the poison,” and every word in Salt in the Wounds is a carefully measured curative agent; with each new page your blood will flow, your heart will beat, and your mind will delight in these short, sharp, brilliant gems.

Mark Blagrave was born and raised in Ontario, and has lived in New Brunswick. His first novel, Silver Salts, was shortlisted for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Novel and the 2009 Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Atlantic Book Awards). His short stories have been published regularly in leading Canadian literary journals, including The New Quarterly and The Fiddlehead, and his plays have been produced professionally and in university theatres. Formerly a professor at Mount Allison University, Blagrave now lives in London, Ontario, where he is Dean of Arts and Social Sciences at Huron College.

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“Blagrave demonstrates a self-consciousness to writing about unlikeable characters, and more importantly, about the lies and compromises that keep friendships and relationships together.”

The Town Crier

“Blagrave doesn’t hit readers over the head with his salt metaphors and insights; in fact, he sprinkles to perfect taste.”

Atlantic Books Today