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About Salt of the Earth (Unabridged)

“Jack Olsen’s particular gift is his ability to illuminate the souls of his characters.” ~ Jonathan Kellerman How can ordinary people survive extraordinary trauma? Jack Olsen tracked a typical American family across four violent decades to find out. Salt of the Earth is the true story of a courageous woman who survived a hellish twentieth century nightmare. Mob violence, injustice, kidnapping, murder and suicide were the black holes in the awful astronomy of Elaine Gere’s life. Somehow, she had to summon the courage to endure: to honor her beloved dead and to rebuild the shattered lives of the sons who depended on her strength. Jack Olsen has been lauded for his psychological insights into the most violent criminals in such masterworks as Doc , The Misbegotten Son, and Predator , but he has never overlooked their victims. By viewing the world through the eyes of Elaine Gere and her devastated family, he finds the core values that enabled them not only to survive and flourish, but, in the end, triumph. Salt of the Earth is a remarkable saga of indomitability, an inspiring and cathartic elegy to the increasing numbers of Americans whose lives are transformed by violence.