Salience

The word, ‘salience,’ originally comes from the Latin, ‘salio,’ meaning to leap, or spring. Gradually, over the centuries, it has taken on its present meaning of, ‘particularly noticeable or prominent.’ Billy Garth, the hero of my novel that bears this title, experiences colors and sounds taking unusual prominence in his mind and distorting his senses during the last year of high school. Only after a long struggle does he understand that they are symptoms of his illness, schizophrenia. Billy is endowed with strength of body and character, as well as a noble and adventurous spirit. His journey takes him through masonry work in the hot sun, a police arrest, court hearings and stays at both a forensic correctional facility and a state mental hospital. He’s joined by a host of characters; some educated, some ignorant, some violent, others non-violent; those fated to endure a lifetime of suffering, and a few, like Billy, chosen to move on, becoming stronger, wiser and self-aware.