A Reader Reviews "An Essential Song"

 Reviewed by Sheri Hoyte for Reader Views (08/18)

“An Essential Song” by Amy R. Saltz is a poignant story of finding love and enduring loss, persisting through the journey of growth and finding one’s self along the way.

The story begins as two people meet, each on their own personal journey. For a time, all is well and the two cherish each other, but soon tragedy comes to pass, and the one left behind cannot fathom how to stop the pain and begin again. I don’t want to give any more specifics about the actual story but will say this – you don’t want to miss this one, it’s a rare gift.



I couldn’t help but get chills while I was reading this haunting story. The overall tone for me was a bit forlorn, while at the same time creating a mood of appreciation, and I was reminded of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s quote, “'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

Inspired by personal tragedy and the loss of two loving partners, Amy Saltz pours her heart and soul into a modest and transcendental story that readers will not soon forget. The characters, especially the protagonist, are mesmerizing, enchanting the reader without ever saying a word as they journey through a whirling cycle of transformation, from grief to acceptance to love, then back again through loss, finally emerging on the othe

r side. The writing is simple, elegant and will awaken and inspire deep thought and self-reflection. The illustrations by Mike T. Cherry, while complementing the written word, also reflect their own story as the reader travels through the light of the forest, succumbs to the ferocity of the raging sea and angry sky, floats through the calmness after the storm and makes the final journey back to the forest. Superb illustrations.

“An Essential Song,” was produced in a picture book design, and somehow, I cannot imagine the story set in a different format. It just works. Make no mistake though, this is not a book for kids. “An Essential Song” by Amy R. Saltz is a treasure and a book I highly recommend to anyone who has loved and lost.

6705 HWY 290 W, Suite 502-255 Austin, Texas 78735 512.280.2001 www.readerviews.com admin@readerviews.com An Essential Song Amy R. Saltz CreateSpace (2018) ISBN 9781976419058

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Commentary From the 2018 Writer's Digest Self Published Book Awards

Author has chosen well to write this book in the present tense, giving the reader a sense of the now that brings so many of the book’s settings and sensory details to life. We get a chilling wind, the dampness of the forest, the movement of water, and the author engages a tremendous sense of experience in the realm of the story. Author excels at gorgeous phrasing to elicit emotions throughout. When the strangers begin their walk together, they share ‘the parallel depths of their wounds.’ I would have loved some dialogue here to give these characters individual depth and differentiation, but the author moves the pace so naturally and so well that the lack of dialogue can be accepted as a narrative device. When the storm hits and she loses him, we’re given a resonant insight, that he never left her. We can hear the plaintive cry as she calls out to her soulmate, and the silence and futility deeply move us. We feel the loss, an emotion so beautifully created by the author in well-chosen s
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Hi! I recently wrote and published a book entitled An Essential Song . It's a metaphorical story of love, loss, recovery, and healing. The book takes the reader on a journey through hopelessness to wholeness.
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