Lying in bed in Gotland after a writer's conference, thinking about his compulsive desire to travel - and the uncomfortable tensions this desire creates - the narrator of Salki starts recounting tragic stories of his family's past, detailing their lives, struggles, and fears in twentieth-century Eastern Europe. In these pieces, he investigates various 'salkis' - attic rooms where memories and memorabilia are stored - real and metaphorical, investigating old documents to better understand the violence of recent times.