Salvage the Bones is the second novel by American author Jesmyn Ward and published by Bloomsbury in 2011. The novel explores the plight of a working-class African-American family in Mississippi as they prepare for Hurricane Katrina and follows them through the aftermath of the storm.[1]
Ward, who lived through Katrina, wrote the novel, after being very "dissatisfied with the way Katrina had receded from public consciousness".[2] The novel was the 2011 recipient of the National Book Award for Fiction.[1]
In an interview with the Paris Review, Ward said she drew inspiration from Medea and the works of William Faulkner.[2]
