This wonderful and totally appetizing little book is actually a series of vignettes rather than a "novel", stories of eight people brought together for a monthly cooking class. The author focuses attention on one of these people during each chapter, each a different class. The stories are blended together seamlessly into a delightful experience for all of the senses as the characters chop, sauté, fold, and season ingredients into delectable feasts for the heart and soul as well as for the palate. Each character has experienced a loss, a disappointment, a trauma, or a lack of focus in their life and through the experience of creating meals that nourish in every sense of the word, they work their way towards answers, acceptance, and life-changing friendships.
This novel opens up a whole new world for those of us who have never thought of cooking as a creative and even life-affirming activity. Bauermeister's descriptions of each class are a feast in themselves. The characters are vulnerable and likable. I think that the author has a rare and wonderful talent for providing brief glimpses into her character's lives that are simultaneously satisfying and unfulfilling, like briefly meeting someone that you'd like to know better and then losing sight of them in a crowd. This is a charming, short homage to both the culinary world (your mouth will water!) and the resilience of the human spirit.
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