The Salt Beneath Me
a novel
"A journey through an elusive quest, a novel that dives into the inner world of someone yearning for what seems impossible."
Winter of 2021. I had been feeling the absence of creative vision, along with the unsatisfied wish to create something, unsure what it would be and how it would come to exist. I was waiting for a spring of urges to begin. And on one night, it came out of the blue. I saw a face, a character, and in front of closed eyes, quite like the projection of a nebulous film, I watched a scene form. I let it happen, and focused on allowing the details to sharpen and be tinted and grow layers. Then a storyline came, and though it was slight and unfledged, I had the feeling to write it down. I sat up under a lamp glow and noted down the opening of this story. Moments passed, more ideas came. I didn't want to lose it so I kept on writing and turning pages as the night grew and soon thinned into early morning. It was only some months before this night that I had revived my childhood love of reading, that I had opened the door to getting swept up in books once more. I had just merely suggested the idea in my head of writing myself, so this was a new sensation. When I got to the end, I realised I had the skeletal plot of a story I was surprised to love. And I knew I wanted to write it, that I couldn’t ignore it. So I did—I put the first sentences on a blank page and returned to it every other day to add more. Details were emerging, little moments between the threads of larger ones, and I soon knew it would evolve to be a novel. Writing a book had always been something I’d like to do at some point, but I didn’t expect it to be then. Nor did I know that soon I would find myself so lost in the formation of it that it would follow me everywhere I went, for the next seventeen months, that here and there, whenever I had free time, I’d add pieces and pieces until it became whole.
Writing this story made me find my literary voice. It showed me how writing a story can develop in a similar way that a painting forms, that music is composed and conducted. It reminded me how often other people inspire me. And how much there is circling the imagination, all at once.
Foreword by Petra Köne:
The Salt Beneath Me is a meditative read about friendship and care, courage and faith, fear and trust, and many more of the invisible aspects of life that make us human. It is engaging in its style, thought-provoking in its philosophical observations, and inspiring in its life-affirming outlook. Turning the last page leaves the reader with a profound sense of hope; hope that is not banal, but grounded in an acknowledgement of the interplay between the contrasting sides of life: pain and joy, light and dark, heaviness and ease. Salt becomes a metaphor for the way acting out of courage feels: “And she thought about salt, how on a wound it feels unpleasant, but then heals; how it stings, but then purifies.” Choosing to act on the things we fear, not avoiding what seems the most difficult, impossible at times, may be a deeply uncomfortable experience at first, but will ultimately alleviate our sorrows and agonies. This is the core message of The Salt Beneath Me—for those seeking an authentic, meaningful way of life, releasing the truth that lies buried within is the only antidote to long-term suffering. Annabel, the protagonist, embarks on a quest driven by an invisible force that seems to be larger than her, overpowering, something she ultimately cannot resist. Koah explores the tension that exists within an individual possessed by irrational longing—the truth she must bring forth—and a desire to rationalise, to understand, to return to normalcy. The reader travels with her, grows with her as she learns to accept and live with this agonising force beyond her control. We witness moments in which she makes peace with this fate; moments of deep reconciliation with the nature of life which allow her to rise above her pain and suffering. This profound character development would not be possible, however, without the aid of friendship. Koah presents friendship as an immensely valuable aspect of life; the vitality of its role in Annabel’s story sheds light on the fact that we don’t need to suffer alone, that the burdens of existence are there to be shared and laid in the hands of support. Following Annabel’s blossoming friendship with Emile throughout the novel lifts the spirits and inspires gratitude for connection. Rendered in beautiful, poetic prose, The Salt Beneath Me is a carefully crafted narrative that will leave the reader with a lingering sense of deep appreciation for the experience of living in its multifacetedness.