Gadsby (African American studies, Oberlin College) examines the fiction and poetry of Caribbean women writers, both emigrant and island women, using the metaphor of sucking salt, a signification of enduring hardship and a survival skill passed on through generations of these women. Her objective is to consider how Caribbean women create communities and parallel worlds in their migration to Great Britain, Canada, and the US. She discusses the cultural and historical significance of salt in the Caribbean, and the identities women created for themselves, which she examines through Black feminism, cultural studies, history, critical race theory, sexuality, gender, and ethnographic research, including interviews and oral histories. Writers include Paule Marshall, Edwidge Danticat, Joan Riley, and Dorothea Smartt. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)