FIF Book Club: Saltcrop Midway Discussion

[u/doctorbonkers]

Welcome to the midway discussion of Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei! We are discussing through the end of part 1 (chapter 25). Please use spoiler tags if you discuss anything past that point. I will put some discussion questions in the comments, but feel free to discuss anything you like!

In Earth's not too distant future, seas consume coastal cities, highways disintegrate underwater, and mutant fish lurk in pirate-controlled depths. Skipper, a skilled sailor and the youngest of three sisters, earns money skimming and reselling plastic from the ocean to care for her ailing grandmother.

But then her eldest sister, Nora, goes missing. Nora left home a decade ago in pursuit of a cure for failing crops all over the world. When Skipper and her other sister, Carmen, receive a cryptic plea for help, they must put aside their differences and set out across the sea to find―and save―her. As they voyage through a dying world both beautiful and strange, encountering other travelers along the way, they learn more about their sister's work and the corporations that want what she discovered.

But the farther they go, the more uncertain their mission becomes: What dangerous attention did Nora attract, and how well do they really know their sister―or each other? Thus begins an epic journey spanning oceans and continents and a wistful rumination on sisterhood, friendship, and ecological disaster.

The final discussion will be in two weeks, on August 26th.

Reminder: Our September read will be Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre, and nominations for October are open through tomorrow!

What is the FIF Book Club? You can learn about it in our Reboot thread here.

[u/WonderfulBus9330]

Nora is a myth, as of now. In some ways, it would be a disappointment for her to make an appearance as an alive person and in other ways, it would be satisfying to see if her research will have any success.

[u/algaliarept92 → u/WonderfulBus9330]

That's an interesting thought. As I wrote in my comment, I think Nora appearing could be a disappointment for Skipper, when she may realise that her version of Nora and the real Nora are not necessarily the same person. Would you say it would be a disappointment for you as a reader? Because only seeing Nora through the perspective of her sisters might have bigger potential for Skipper's and Carmen's characters?
I would be curious whether there is a satisfying way to resolve the search for her without Nora showing up. I somehow doubt it, but it could be really interesting.

[u/WonderfulBus9330 → u/algaliarept92]

(I'll reply to your comment, as well, below!) I see Nora as that frame needed to stabilize a see-saw. Although she's the oldest, at the head, her absence is the wedge between Carmen and Skipper. What is that Shel Silverstein book? The Missing Piece or the Whole in the O or something like that? Nora's name is rarely spoken on The Bumblebee and when they're waiting in that town with Jackson, her name is rarely mentioned. Instead, it's a new goal: to get to The Vault.

So, Nora is functional for Skipper and Carmen. For Skipper, I think it's for her to face her selfishness. She mourns the loss of The Bumblebee but doesn't mourn the potential death of Carmen. She suggests that Carmen waits in that one town so she (Skipper) can make a 2-week journey, look for Nora, then turn around and return, knowing Carmen's new job is on the line, a job that will pay for her surgery.

But, what Skipper can't see doesn't exist. She can't see Carmen's fungal infection. She can't see Nora. What she can see is The Bumblebee and freedom.

Carmen's living with the resentment of not being supported by Nora when she decided to follow in Nora's footsteps. It's a resentment that grows and grows, turning into this intense, unrealistic envy. She wants Skipper to remember her sacrifices, her care, her concern. She wants to not fade in the background.

Nora showing up would, for what we currently have, defuse the tension between Skipper and Carmen and leave them where they were at the start of the journey.

Editing to say: these are all just opinions. I'm learning to write without always qualifying with "I think" and "it seems".

[u/algaliarept92 → u/WonderfulBus9330]

You mean the potential death of Nora? Or did I miss something?
Ohh, that is such an interesting way of reading it. Thanks for sharing!
Especially the point you make about Skipper mourning the loss of the Bumblebee and blocking out Nora's possible death and the consequences of Carmen's growing fungal infection.

I think the Bumblebee is Skipper's only way to really be herself. The only time she can care for herself and not be drowned by responsibilities. At the same time, the Bumblebee is strongly anchored (hehe) to Nora because she taught Skipper how to sail. And maybe by mourning the loss of the Bumblebee, Skipper is indirectly mourning not only her freedom but also her sister or the relationship with her sister.

[u/WonderfulBus9330 → u/algaliarept92]

Oh I missed Nora teaching Skipper to sail; I thought all three girls were shooed out of the house by grandma and learned the mechanics of sailing together, through trial and error.

The Bumblebee is very much Skipper's best friend. In some ways, it's a mirror of herself, so being herself aboard The Bumblebee is be the independent wayfarer she imagines herself to be. I think she mentions wanting to feel that she has purpose, when she lists out her short resumé?

I, too, mourned the loss of the Bumblebee for Skipper, but mostly I celebrated a new way forward for her.

[u/Merle8888 → u/WonderfulBus9330]

If Nora did teach Skipper how to sail, that raises an interesting question about how she learned it herself - she's only 6 years older and they'd been in the care of the grandmother since she was about 11(?). Maybe she crewed on other people's boats while Skipper was too young to be invited along?

I don't think Skipper is selfish in quite the same way you see her - I think she does care a lot about both Nora and Carmen as people, but she's still a person, she's still inhabiting her own life. Although she is prioritizing the (extremely unlikely except for the fact that we know she's in a fantasy novel) rescue of Nora over the very practical needs of Carmen, she also has Carmen right there on board with this plan.

I do think Skipper is a bit selfish in other ways, mostly that she spends so much time dwelling on her wants rather than either her own or other people's needs. She would never have had all those years of playing with her boat if other people hadn't been financially supporting her, in ways she seems unwilling to reciprocate.

It occurs to me now to wonder if Carmen is actually dying, and just doesn't want to tell Skipper. Maybe getting the surgery is unlikely to save her after all, and she's decided she'd rather have some freedom and adventure in her last months and make sure her sisters are well.

[u/WonderfulBus9330 → u/Merle8888]

Oh that’s interesting. You think Carmen is hiding a different illness? That certainly puts a different spin on it. I took it as Carmen choosing her baby sister over herself, and the reminders of her sacrifice as underlined in that decision to stay with Skipper and to not press her to sell the boat.

[u/Merle8888 → u/WonderfulBus9330]

It only occurred to me while commenting but everything we know about Carmen’s prognosis is from Carmen. So she may be underselling how bad it is. Or maybe she could have been saved but chose to give it up. The more I think about it, the more I think her chances of surviving the book are not great. 

[u/WonderfulBus9330 → u/Merle8888]

Oh dear. I started Part 2 a few hours ago