<P> <I>Salt Dancers</i> is at once a brilliant portrait of an American family, a story of the secrets families guard, and a moving account of one woman's journey back to a past filled with elusive memories and suppressed rage. Why did Julia's mother disappear one day without so much as a word? How did a loving father who taught her such a beautiful thing as the salt dance become such a terrifying and abusive presence? These are the questions which Julia must confront when she returns to Spokane, Washington, after an absence of twenty-three years. <P> <I>Salt Dancers</i>, a superbly written novel, is a poignant and truthful chronicle of self-discovery and the power of resurrection.