Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday: SIMPLY FROM SCRATCH by Alicia Bessette

"WAITING ON WEDNESDAY"
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Join in and tell us . . .

What are you waiting for?

My pick for this week is . . .



Dutton Adult
(August 5, 2010)
Hardcover
$25.95

Overview (from the author's website):
A luminous, tender-hearted debut novel about a young widow, a nine-year-old girl, and a baking contest that will change both their lives.

Rose-Ellen “Zell” Carmichael Roy wears her late husband Nick’s camouflage apron even when she’s not in the kitchen. She can’t remember the last time she wore a bra, and she speaks to her dog in the voice of a pirate. That’s her widow style.

It’s been over a year since Nick died tragically during a post-Katrina relief mission in New Orleans. Long enough, according to the grief pamphlets, to have begun moving on with her life. But Zell is still unable to enter her attic, which is full of Nick memories. She hasn’t even turned on her oven because cooking was Nick’s chore. That is, until she decides to enter celebrity chef Polly Pinch’s first annual Desserts that Warm the Soul baking contest, hoping to win the $20,000 grand prize to donate to Katrina survivors in Nick’s honor.

Meanwhile, in the adjacent apartment of Zell’s two-family house, nine-year-old Ingrid Knox is learning to cope with the loneliness of growing up without a mother. With an imagination as big as her heart, Ingrid treasures her doting father but begins to plot how she will meet her mother, whom she fiercely believes is Polly Pinch.

When an embarrassing baking mishap brings Zell and Ingrid together, they form an unlikely friendship that will alter both of their lives forever. Together, and with the help of a lively and loveable cast of friends and family, they embark on winning the Desserts that Warm the Soul contest – and learn that through the many sorrows and joys of life, with a little bit of flour and a pinch of love, anything is possible.

Click here to visit the author's website.

About the author (from the author's website):
Alicia Bessette was born and raised in central Massachusetts and graduated from La Salle University in Philadelphia. A pianist and freelance writer, she and her husband, novelist Matthew Quick, live near Philadelphia with their adopted racing greyhound, Stella. Simply From Scratch is Alicia’s first novel.

11 comments:

Zibilee said...

This one sounds wonderful, and the fact that it has a foodie angle is also very interesting to me. Thanks for sharing this book with us!

Brittany said...

This one sounds very interesting. I'll have to check it out, thanks for sharing!

bermudaonion said...

I'm waiting for this one too!

Jill said...

Me too, me too!! Great pick...

Jan von Harz said...

So many cooking themed books and this one sounds precious.

Jess said...

This sounds awesome -- great find!

Mary (Bookfan) said...

I'm waiting on this one as well. Sounds so good, doesn't it?

Alayne said...

Aww this one sounds so good! Great pick. My WOW is at The Crowded Leaf.

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

This one sounds Terrific ; Thanks so much for telling us about it.

Julie P said...

Thank you for sharing this book! I am adding it to my TBR list.

Mystica said...

Lovely review.