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I'd been seeing The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do, so I just unwrapped it and took a bite. It was a homemade ham-and-cheese-and-mustard sandwich, on white bread, with a thin piece of lettuce in the middle. Not bad, in the food part. Good ham, flat mustard from a functional bakery. Ordinary bread. Tired lettuce-pickers. But in the sandwich as a whole, I tasted a kind of yelling, almost. Like the sandwich itself was yelling at me, yelling love me, love me, really loud. - The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake: A Novel
The blurb:
On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein, a girl at the periphery of schoolyard games and her distracted parents' attention, bites into her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother's emotion in the slice.
She discovers this gift to her horror, for her mother -- her cheerful, good-with-crafts, can-do mother--tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes a peril and a threat to Rose. Anything can be revealed at any meal. She can't eat her brother Joseph's toast, a cookie at the local bakery is laced with rage; grape jelly is packed with acidic resentment.
Rose's gift forces her to confront the secret knowledge all families keep hidden -- truths about her mother's life outside the home, her father's strange detachment, Joseph's clash with the world.
Yet as Rose grows up, she realizes there are some secrets that even her taste buds can't discern.
Review:
While the idea behind the book is intriguing, it is the execution that really drew me in. The book is told from Rose's point of view and the story begins when Rose is 9 years old. She tells us the comfort that she gets when she returns home from school and finds her mother in the kitchen. Her mother bakes as special treat while Rose does her homework -- and Rose's sense of well being is palpable.
It's clear that Rose is warm an
5 Comments on Book Review and Giveaway of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender, last added: 7/29/2010
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This book sounds so interesting and like nothing I have read before! Would love to win a copy! Two books I have recently read and really enjoyed are:
1. Husband and Wife by Leah Stewart. It is the story of a woman who's husband confesses to having an affair and how she goes on to digest and work through this information and ultimate betrayal.
2. the one that i want by Allison Winn Scotch. This is the story of a woman who believes she has the perfect life. She visits an old friend/new psychic who "gifts" her with the gift of clarity. From then on she begins having visions of the future that do not fit in to the live she has worked so hard for and,when the visions start coming true, she begins to realize that life isn't always what it appears to be and that she must adapt to how her life really is.
Thanks!
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I am a follower. I loved all the Twilight books by Stephenie Myers. I couldn't put the books down. I also like the Host by Stephenie Meyers. Please enter me in contest. I really want to read this book. [email protected]
I just finished The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin. It's an unlikely love story that keeps you glued to the book. I real page turner about 2 people who meet while waiting for a flight and wind up stranded in the wilderness. It's fabulous.
I'm almost finished with They're watching by Gregg Hurwitz. It's a fast paced suspense thriller. It's got all kinds of twists and turns and takes you on a ride with the protagonist.
I'm a follower, and my fingers are crossed for this book.
bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com
Please count me in. Thanks for the giveaway.
1. I really enjoyed Shiver by Maggie Steifvater. It is a beautifully told story of a girl falling in love with a boy who is a werewolf during the winter.
2. I also enjoyed the sequal to Shiver called Linger. The love story of Sam and Grace continues.
lizzi0915 at aol dot com
I forgot to mention that I am a follower.
lizzi0915 at aol dot com