Salt dancers

the long version

Unmarried and pregnant at forty-one, Julia returns home to Spokane, Washington, to the father she hasn't seen in twenty-three years, and to the memories of secrecy, betrayal, abuse, and abandonment that haunt her still. She is determined to understand, before her child is born, how her family unraveled. What made her mother disappear without a word one day, leaving Julia to face the terror of her father's desperate, alcohol-fueled outbursts? How did the loving father, who taught Julia the salt dance to chase away her fears, turn into the punishing father who could never be pleased?