Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing, intriguing read
Review: This historically detailed account of English life in the 17th Century goes beyond "fiction" to tell a story of love, jealousy, betrayal, self-loathing and anger. As a narrator that is tragically flawed, Jacob Cullen begs forgiveness but can't seem to mend his ways. He seeks redemption, but his failure to achieve it ultimately weaves a disturbing tale that stays with the reader long after the book is done.
Rating: 
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: This is a brilliant novel, a true masterpiece. Maria McCann has taken the historical novel to a new height with the story of Jacob Cullen, a deeply flawed man, and his love for Feriss, the idealist. Set against the background of the English Civil War, we are plunged into the 17th Century from the first pages. We see war,... idealism and great chunks of daily life. But above all it is the story of Jacob who cannot control his inner demons of rage and jealousy. And it is a love story with all the stages of an obsessive love, infatuation, fulfulllment, obsession and betrayal. I was not able to put the book down and it has haunted me ever since. This is a remarkable achievement for a first time novelist. Maria McCann is an extraordinary writer. You simply must read this book.
Rating:
Summary: An impressive though not fully assured debut
Review: The critically acclaimed "As Meat Loves Salt (AMLS)" is an impressive debut by British novelist, Maria McCann. Due to the enormous amount of historical research that must have gone into its preparation, AMLS has been touted as a novel about the 17th Century English Civil War. Certainly, having a more than superficial knowledge of the Diggers movement and their mission to create a new society of free men would be helpful in understanding what makes our two protagonists tick, though it isn't strictly essential, for at the heart of AMLS is an unusual story of love and obsession between two men, the treatment of which should strike a responsive chord with modern readers of alternative literature, even among those without the least interest in English history. Jacob Cullen, a gentleman-turned-servant in a royalist estate, must be the most morally ambivalent protagonist of all time. The difference is, he knows it and we do too. He is given to bouts of murderous and lustful rage. His nemesis, Christopher Ferris, the graceful idealist soldier, is equally enigmatic. Though the less aggressive of the two, there is never any doubt that Christopher will be the one finally calling the shots. The premise for the love story, though fascinating, is difficult to execute without some loss of credibility. The thought of these two macho men hitting on each other as soon as they have a moment alone together becomes slightly ludicrous and even embarrassing. The reader must feel like poor Becs after she has cottoned on to the truth. This and the (underwhelming) event that triggered their break up left me strangely befuddled. The love story, though central, may be the shakiest part of the novel. The first part, set in the royalist estate, is full of interesting characters, adventure and intrigue. Pity it ended so abruptly. A more cogent plot could have developed from there. The middle portion, beginning with Jacob's rescue by Christopher after he flees the estate, is the risky bit. While it doesn't quite succeed, the love story solidly underpins the novel's centre. The concluding section, focussing on the building of the Diggers commune, could have been less rambling and more sharply written. McCann is a promising writer. She has both style and craft and knows how to tell a story. AMLS may not be the realised masterpiece some critics have made it to be but I'll be looking out for her follow up. For all its faults, AMLS is still one of the best reads this season.
Rating:
Summary: Wrenching and Moving
Review: This book's atmosphere resembles the description of the main character by the lover who find himself attracted to him like a moth to a black flame: "Dark but comely". Jacob Cullen is as attractive and morally conflicted as they come, struggling with his sins and crimes of passion in a period dominated by Christian morality and political upheaval. McCann's descriptions of 17th century England ring very true and provide an appropriately bloody and conflicted backdrop to what is essentially a tortured love story (undoubtedly the best kind!). The descriptions of Jacob brutally raping his own wife or tenderly licking the salt from his soldier-lover's shocked lips paint an unflinching portrait of an erotic anti-hero whom you want to hate but cling to against your own better judgement, like the characters in the book that have the misfortune to love him.
The main character is well drawn but his motivations sometimes seem to come out of nowhere, inspired by his murderous inner "Voice", which is never explained or integrated with the rest of his character. Similarly, sometimes the plot wanders. But I was hooked until the wrenching end by this brutal and tender "Samson" who is as horrified by his own crimes as we, and whose humanity and capacity for love is only amplified by them. He is his own greatest victim and inspired my deepest sympathy.
Rating:
Summary: "Let me, Let me....." An astounding first novel
Review: I have to say that it's been a very long time since a book bowled me over, has kept me up at night eagerly awaiting each page. But "As Meat Loves Salt" did it, and powerfully, too. Mis McCann has dazzled with her first published novel. As you can tell from other reviews here, it affected a lot of other people, too -- this is simply an astonishing and unutterably moving story. The story is set in the first half of the 17th century, during the English Civil War. Many authors of less skill or taste would have "prithee"-and-"sirrah"ed us to death, but McCann manages to use a language that's our own yet clads itself in another time. The words never get in the way. The tale had me in its grip from the first pages and never let go. Once the drama is underway, I wanted to read on, but, knowing the foibles of the characters so ably set out by the author, I also dreaded turning the page for fear that something awful might occur. I was devastated at the novel's end; it affected me for several days afterward. I can not recall ever being moved in this manner by anything -- books, movies or music. If you are a fan of period fiction or just love a well told story that you will never forget, this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Passion and sexual desire gone to rot
Review: I am not a historian, but McCann's attention to historical details seems dead-on accurate in `As Meat Loves Salt'. Her description of the era was concise and riveting, and she successfully describes a time-period that was pulling itself out of the Middle Ages.
This makes the `love' story all the more exceptional. I wouldn't dare say that book is about two men in love. Its not - and reviews that state that are misleading.
This is novel about two men who develop a powerful attraction to each other that briefly bursts into sexual fulfillment. Both men long for each other - and for a brief time there is an intense level of mutual devotion - but there is no love. That is proven in the last act of the novel, when various betrayals bring out the worse in both men.
It's the story of the potential love gone quickly to rot - and how that decay can permanently infect a person if not addressed. There is also a strong sense of suspense in the middle part, during a sub-plot exploring the possibilty of the character's relationship being 'found out'.
My only main problem was in the development of Ferris, the secondary character of the novel. Ferris seems less like a developed character rather than a counterpoint to Jacob, the story's main protagonist. When Ferris is first introduced, he seems Virtue to Jacob's Vice. As the story develops, Ferris becomes the personification of Selfishness while Jacob is written as Redemption. It was a little too cut-and-dried, and would have worked better if the characters were made a tad more ambiguous as each other's foils.
Despite that, McCann has created a compelling antihero in Jacob - a fractured man who is unable to successfully act upon his desires or good sense. Jacob is a character driven by instinct - and it's this instinct that leads him upon a path of destruction of himself and those he cares for.
Rating:
Summary: Makes the past come to life.
Review: I have never liked history. Nor do I like entertainment that is trying to teach me a lesson. However, I love when a book (or movie) can make the past come to life, and that's what this book does.
The author draws the reader into Jacob Cullen's world. The details provide authenticity without being dry and boring. Cullen feels real, the structure of his world feels real. I could relate to his situation despite not having any real connection to it. I feel it is often difficult to relate to characters in literature set in the past, yet this book presents a vivid protagonist in a specific setting. I think Amazon recommended this book because I also loved "The Crimson Petal and the White," and both books are similar. Both books make a distant place come to life with complex, well-developed characters. If only all history could be this interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing
Review: Set against the backdrop of the English Civil War in approximately the years 1644-46, this is the fascinating story of Jacob Cullen. The tale opens with the death of a household servant; Jacob is accused of murdering him. Afraid of being captured, he runs away on his wedding day and is drafted into Cromwell's New Model Army, fighting against the Cavalliers. We experience the inner workings of Jacob's mind, as he fights to keep himself, and his sanity, alive. Jacob's love for and his relationship with Christopher Ferris are at the heart of this book as they struggle to keep their passion for one another a secret from the rest of the world.
With remarkable historical detail, McCann takes us on a tour of the most bloody period of England's history. We meet Oliver Cromwell and other major figues of the time period. This book is meticulously researched and beautiful to boot.
The title is taken from a fable which is recounted in the opening chapter, and its meaning holds more and more significance the further one reads. Ferris professes that he loves Jacob "as meat loves salt-" he cannot do without him.
Rating:
Summary: Achingly Wonderful
Review: I just finished As Meat Loves Salt a half hour ago. I am in pain. Typically, when a book causes this reaction in me, I don't like the book. However, this is one of my top three books I have ever read. The story is amazing, you fall in love with the characters, even the ones you shouldn't. . . It is so much more than just a gay novel. In fact I would not even classify it as that. It was just a truly wonderfuly written and done with love. It is a very sensual book. You smell it, taste it, and feel every emotion with every word. Stunning.
Rating: 
Summary: a total waste of time!
Review: A total waste of time
If you ask met his book was not only bad, but a total waste of time, unless the object was to describe a mad mans raving and the depths of depravity which one can sink to. I do not recommend it at all! The only thing one can say in its favour is that it is well written - by that I mean that though I did hate it, I still had to finish it ... all the while hoping for some great revelation, some explanation, some hint that would led me to understand ... but no such hint came!
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