Salt On My Skin

Salt on My Skin is widely regarded as Groult’s most pioneering, best-loved book.

This highly-charged novel follows the passionate relationship between mismatched lovers: a Parisian intellectual and a Breton fisherman, brought together by lust. Through love-letters and exotic encounters around the world, their life-long affair evolves - liberating them from the restrictions and disappointments dealt by real life.

Set in France in the 1960s, it explores the touching dynamics of the couple’s relationship, and whether their raw desire for each other can overcome the wide social divide that separates them. The narrative examines the difficulties of writing frankly about sex and explores the protagonist’s conflict between fulfilling her cerebral and sexual needs. Is she dominant, or subservient?

‘A leading French feminist and writer, Groult drew wide attention with this sexually daring novel.’ - The New York Times