As Meat Loves Salt is a 2003 historical fiction novel, written by Maria McCann. Set against the backdrop of the English Civil War, the book follows Jacob Cullen, a sensitive and tortured young man prone to violent outbursts, is drafted into Cromwell's New Model Army where he meets a fascinating young soldier named Ferris. Jacob and Ferris go AWOL to follow their dream of creating a utopian commune.
It gets worse from there.
Tropes
- Green-Eyed Monster: Jacob, holy hell. For Caro at first and it takes him only a very short while to turn into one for Ferris too.
- Parental Incest: Ferris saves his wife from her rapist father. She dies along with the child conceived during her father's rape.
- Significant Monogram: Jacob and Ferris' dead wife Joanna have the same initials, which becomes significant towards the end.
- Twist Ending: Did Jacob or did Jacob not molest his brother Zebedee, as Zebedee alludes to towards the end?
- Wham Line: When Ferris describes how his beloved wife died in childbirth, along with the baby, Jacob tells him that its sad she died, but that "a man must have issue." Ferris says, "Oh, it wasn't my child."
