Green background with cover of Ring of Salt by Betsy Cornwell. White text with title, author, and general information Coming out soon: September 2025 Genres: memoir nonfiction Setting: County Galway Ireland POV: first person she/they/he Review: 5 stars Strawberry graphic in corner
Green background with white text synopsis: At 24, Betsy Cornwell runs away to Ireland. Amid the beauty of the Irish countryside, her life takes on the glow of a fairy tale when she meets a charming horse trainer and elopes. Five years later, her happy ending has twisted into a nightmare and Betsy finds herself trapped in an abusive marriage, isolated and afraid with a baby. On her son's first birthday, she runs away, turning to the women around her for help. On sleepless nights, she scrolls through real estate listings and fosters an impossible dream: What if she could use her writing to buy a home of her own? One that might become a haven, not just for her family, but other single parent artists and writers, too? Then she discovers a historic knitting factory on the coastline. She spends the next two years working to crowdfund the purchase. But as the deadline nears, she will have to reckon with everything she believes about family, survival, and what happily-ever-after truly means for her dream to have any chance of coming true. From GoodReads Strawberry graphic in corner
Green background with white text review: This memoir was a masterpiece. I truly have no words for how beautiful this book was. Betsy Cornwell went through so much in her life, and she laid it all out in this memoir. My heart ached for her and everything that had happened to her. Yet at the same time she infused the entire story with so much hope and joy, and it warmed my heart. She reflected on her pain and came out happier for it some how, still so optimistic about the world. Just for that alone this deserves five stars. But Betsy Cornwell is also an amazing writer all around. Her prose was stunning, imbued with the essence of fairy tales and fables. She included so many references to her own work and other's books, and very helpfully attached a reading list to the end that I will definitely be making my way through. And I would love to visit the Old Knitting Factory some day; it sounds like a paradise. So all of this is to say that this memoir is moving and emotional and inspiring and hopeful, and I think everyone should read it. I truly cannot recommend it enough. Strawberry graphic in corner
I have only read two books by Betsy Cornwell, one fiction and one memoir, but both books were five star reads. She just writes so beautifully.
Thank you Avid Reader Press for the free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
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