A pretty good cookbook struggling to get out of a bland novel.
Averill’s debut provides a harmless enough occasion for the author to meditate philosophically on the sensual analogies between cooking, food, life and love.
At least Averill has interesting things to say about food and cooking. Among the main attractions here are the delicious-sounding recipes, complete with essays on the ingredients, for the “New World” cuisine (prepared exclusively from foods found in the Americas before the arrival of Columbus) of Robert Hingler’s Tsil Café in Kansas City, Missouri. Upstairs from the restaurant, Hingler’s wife Maria operates a catering business focused on “Old World,” primarily Mediterranean cuisine. Into this mix is born their son Wes, the narrator, who chronicles the usual restaurateurs’ frustrations, from ignorant suppliers and unreliable employees to hostile reviewers, as well his own tendency to burn his hands on scalding-hot pans. Meanwhile, there are also adulterous affairs for husband and wife. Forced to endure the hardship of seeing his parents fight, Wes arrives at the deep conclusion that both of them are imperfect and carry childhood traumas. His parents make up—their love is stronger, fresher, better, but scarred—and Wes realizes he’s got to make his own meal in life, with his own ingredients and his own dishes and . . . you get the picture. He has sex, goes to college, and works in another restaurant, all crucible experiences related in no particular order of significance. An unintentionally amusing moment occurs during Robert’s blowout 50th-birthday meal, a grand affair including roast guinea pig, dog tamales, and llama’s blood, when Maria’s visiting grandmother dies in the restaurant’s basement as the meal is about to begin. Dinner is served anyway, and Maria pops downstairs to be with the body “for a brief vigil between courses.” Occasionally Wes strikes a more-native-than-thou attitude, as when he describes Thanksgiving as “the Anglo ritual that consists of gorging the gut instead of communication with ancestors and gods.”
A pretty good cookbook struggling to get out of a bland novel.Pub Date: July 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-399-14755-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: BlueHen/Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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