New In Paperback- The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck

The Women In The Castle by Jessica Shattuck
Published by William Morrow Paperbacks ISBN 9780062563675
Trade paperback, 400 pages, $16.99

Two of the biggest publishing sensations of the past few years are Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale and the Pulitzer Prize-winning All The Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Both dealt with people trapped by the horrors of WWII in France and Germany.

Jessica Shattuck's new novel, The Women In The Castle, tackles that same era and will definitely appeal to readers who were so moved by those two books.

The story opens in November of 1938 at Burg Lingenfels, a castle in Bavaria, where the Countess' annual harvest party is about to begin. We meet Marianne von Lingelfels, the Countess' niece-in-law, who will act as hostess to the party. She is married to Albrecht von Lingelfels who fears that the Nazi regime and Adolf Hitler have become too powerful.

Albrecht is disgusted by the actions of Hitler, and actively participates in the resistance movement along with others, including Connie Fledermann, a man who is always the charming life-of-the-party and Marianne's dear friend. Connie is married to the beautiful, young Benita, and if Marianne admits it, she is a little jealous.

The action moves back and forth in time, and a few years later we find Marianne and her young children living in the castle, a shadow of its former grand self. Marianne has promised Connie that she take care of Benita and their young son, and along the way also picks up Ania, a refugee with her three children.

The three women and their children band together to survive the horrors and deprevations of war. We learn where Benita and Ania were before they came to Burg Lingenfels, and what they had to do to survive.

We see the horrors of war through their eyes, and some of the scenes are so jarring, such as the one of Ania and her friend seeing what they believe to be sacks of food piled high on open air wagons. As it gets closer they realize that the sacks are actually people. There are more than a few heartbreaking scenes in this searing novel.

The story moves along, following the war's end and what happens to those who survive. Some do their best to move on, forget the past, while others are haunted too much. Marianne does her best to live up to her high principles, even if that hurts those she loves, while others do whatever it takes to survive. Which way is right? That is the big question to be answered.

The women face many moral dilemmas, and the reader is left to wonder what she may have done in their situations. Shattuck does an admirable job of putting the reader in their shoes, making us identify with these women, creating empathy.

The Women In The Castle is a haunting story, one that you cannot rush through, but must read and contemplate. These characters' stories will stay with you for a very long time. Fans of Chris Bohjalian's The Sandcastle Girls and David Gillam's City of Women should put this one on your TBR list as well.

The Girl in Times Square by Paullina Simons

The Girl in Times Square by Paullina Simons
Published by William Morrow Paperback ISBN 9780062444356
Trade paperback, $16.99, 600 pages

Since this past week the eyes of the world were on Times Square for the New Year's Eve ball drop, it's a perfect time to read Paullina Simon's novel The Girl in Times Square. It's quite a large book at almost 600 pages, and since the arctic air is keeping people inside, it's a good read for those snuggling up inside.

The book starts with Lily's boyfriend Josh moving out of their apartment and taking all of his stuff with him, including their bed. Since he pays one-third of the rent and Lily's economic situation was precarious before this, this is a devastating blow to her.

She relies on her parents sending her money to pay her share of the rent as her waitressing job at Noho Star doesn't cover much of her expenses while she finishes up her sixth year of college.

When Lily goes to Hawaii to visit her parents at her brother's request, she finds her mother extremely troubled and turning to alcohol, and her father doesn't know how to handle the situation. Lily soon gets a call from the NYPD that her roommate Amy is missing and returns home to find out what happened to Amy.

Spencer O'Malley is the detective assigned to Amy's case, and he takes a special interest in Lily. When Lily faces a health crisis, it is Spencer, not her siblings or self-involved parents, who helps her through it. Her brother Andrew is a Congressman, her sister Anne a financial journalist, and sister Amanda is a mother of four young children, and they don't have the time for Lily.

The Girl in Times Square is 600 pages long, and there is a lot going on in this book. Lily's mom Allison is very depressed about aging and their relocation to Hawaii. She appears to have been a challenging mother, more interested in herself than her children.

The mystery of what happened to Amy didn't hold my interest as much as the burgeoning relationship between Lily and Detective O'Malley. Lily's health crisis is a large part of the book, and really captured my emotions. Spencer's care of and for her was very moving.

Lily's money woes are resolved in a surprising manner that changes her relationship with her siblings but not with Spencer.

Lily's mom states the theme of the novel- "Don't you know you carry whatever's inside you wherever you go?" That applies to so many people in the story.

The resolution to the mystery of what happened to Amy was a bit out of left field for me, so I would recommend The Girl In Times Square more to people looking for a good love story than someone who wants to read a mystery. I found Lily and Spencer's relationship and Lily's crisis a much more satisfying story.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Paullina Simons' tour. The rest of her stops are here:

Tour Stops

Tuesday, December 19th: Girl Who Reads

Thursday, December 21st: Into the Hall of Books

Friday, December 22nd: A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, December 27th: Books and Bindings

Thursday, December 28th: The Desert Bibliophile

Friday, December 29th: 5 Minutes For Books

Tuesday, January 2nd: bookchickdi

Thursday, January 4th: BookExpression

TBD: StephTheBookworm

TBD: Jathan & Heather

The Most Compelling Books of 2017

Reprinted from the Citizen: 

It’s time to reflect on the books I read this past year that stayed with me the most, a list I call the Most Compelling Books of 2017.

Delia Ephron’s Siracusa takes readers to the island off the coast of Italy, where two families are vacationing. Both couples have troubled marriages, and a frightening incident unravels them all.  Ephron gives you a real sense of place here.

Siracusa

Caroline Angell’s debut novel, All The Time In The World, tells the story of a nanny who becomes entangled in a tragedy of the family she works for. The main character is so relatable, and I felt such a kinship with her, this book broke my heart. 

All the Time In The World

Another debut novel that caught my attention is Julie Buntin’s Marlena, a coming-of-age story about the friendship between two teenage girls. Cat moves with her recently divorced mom and brother to rural Michigan and meets Marlena, a troubled teen dealing with a mom who left her with a drug dealing father and a young brother to care for. Buntin nails that time of life for young women, and her characters are unforgettable. 

Marlena

Angie Thomas’ debut The Hate U Give has been on the YA best-seller list from day one and it deserves to be. Teenage Starr sees her friend killed by a policeman and it changes her whole life. Each character here is so well drawn, this is a book everyone should read. 

The Hate U Give

Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is for fans of Turner Classic Movies. When a famous reclusive former movie star (think Marilyn Monroe or Elizabeth Taylor) plucks an unknown magazine writer to write her biography, it makes for a captivating, and surprisingly deep, tale. 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

There are two books here with Irish protagonists. J. Courtney Sullivan’s Saints For All Occasions tells the story of two sisters who emigrate from Ireland to the United States; one marries and raises a family, the other becomes a nun, and a secret they share comes to light years later. 

Saints for All Occasions

Alice McDermott has written many novels on the Irish-American experience, and her The Ninth Hour focuses on an order of nuns who care for the people in their Brooklyn neighborhood in the early 20th century. They take in a young widow with a baby, and their compassion and dedication to caring for the sick and poor is life-affirming. 

The Ninth Hour

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Another life-affirming novel is Elizabeth Berg’s The Story of Arthur Truluv about an elderly widower, his widow neighbor and the teenage girl they befriend. It’s a lovely story about the connections we make. And in today's world when we hear of men behaving badly, Arthur is one of the good guys.

The Story of Arthur Truluv

On the nonfiction side, “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah’s memoir Born A Crime relates his upbringing as a half-South African, half-white boy in post-aparteid South Africa. It’s funny and touching, and it gives the reader a peek into a world we know little about. I've also heard that the audiobook is fantastic.

Born A Crime

Alyssa Mastromonaco’s Who Thought This Was A Good Idea? is about her life working in the Obama White House as a deputy chief of staff. It immerses you in the breakneck pace of life at the White House and about what it takes to do a job like this and what you give up to do it. 

Who Thought This Was A Good Idea?

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Nomadland

Jessica Bruder is a journalist who turned a magazine article into a book called Nomadland — Surviving America in the 21st Century. She traveled the country with transient older Americans who have lost their jobs and homes (many during the recession of 2008). They live in campers, RVs, vans and even cars and travel to work at campgrounds, beet fields, spring training baseball stadiums and carnivals to make ends meet.

The most fascinating chapter focuses on their work at an Amazon warehouse and you’ll never order from Amazon again without thinking about these workers. Nomadland is the best nonfiction book of the year, on a topic that is current, and it’s one that I’ll be talking about for a long time.

The best book I read this year is Stay With Me a debut novel by Nigerian author Ayobami Adebayo. It tells the story of a young married couple in Nigeria who are having trouble conceiving a baby. When the husband’s family insists on bringing in a second wife, it begins a downward spiral. I cried throughout this stunning novel, and when someone asks me what to read, Stay With Me is it. 

Stay With Me

I hope you had a year filled with great reading, and I’d love to hear what you thought was the best book of the year.

Diane La Rue is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and blogs about books athttp://bookchickdi.blogspot.com. You can follow her on Twitter @bookchickdi, and she can be emailed at laruediane2000@yahoo.com.

A Hundred Small Lessons by Ashley Hay

A Hundred Small Lessons by Ashley Hay
Published by Atria Books ISBN 9781501165139
Hardcover, $26, 304 pages

Australian author Ashley Hay's A Hundred Small Lessons tells the story of two woman who lived in the same house at two different times. When elderly Elsie Gormley falls in her house and breaks her hip, she has to move from the home where she and her beloved husband Clem raised their twins, Elaine and Don now 70 years old, to a nursing home.

Elsie lost Clem over thirty years ago and has lived alone since then. She has a good relationship with her son Don and his wife Carol, but she and Elaine have clashed since Elaine was a teenager. Elsie loves Elaine's daughter Gloria and spent a lot of time with Gloria while she was growing up.

Elaine didn't take to mothering as Elsie did. Elaine married young, like her mother, but never reveled in the joy of raising her daughter and keeping house. One of the most poignant scenes takes place as Elaine pours her heart out to Clem about how desparately unhappy she is with her life. Clem listens to his daughter, and tells her that it isn't too late to go back to school or find a satisfying job. Clem has a much different, warmer relationship with Elaine than Elsie did.

Lucy, her husband Ben and their toddler son Tom buy Elsie's house when she moves to the nursing home. Lucy loves her husband and son, but she is melancholy. Ben travels frequently for work, and he and Lucy have moved several times across the world, finally settling in Brisbane.

Lucy becomes somewhat obsessed with Elsie. She finds a box of photos in the attic that belonged to Elsie, and when Tom accidentally spills something on them and ruins them, she is upset. Lucy feels Elsie's presence in the house, and even tells Ben that she has seen Elsie in the garden. Ben indulges Lucy at first, but he becomes increasingly exasperated by Lucy's continued behavior.

As a middle-aged woman Elsie poses for a portrait for an artist who lives nearby. This experience changes Elsie in a profound way. She begins to see herself in a different light.

Lucy meanwhile speaks frequently of her vardogers- versions of Lucy Kiss who exist in different times and places, a Sliding Doors effect. She brings up her vardogers when an old boyfreind unexpectedly turns up at her door.

Hay writes very descriptively- her opening paragraph, describing the house as Elsie sees it from the floor where she has fallen is particularly evocative. It makes you want to lie on your own floor to see what you see, things that you miss seeing everyday from your usual perspective.

A Hundred Small Lessons, whose title is taken from a Michael Ondaatje poem that Lucy recited to Ben on one of their first dates, is about the journeys taken by Elsie and Lucy on their way to finding their own identities. It's about growing into your own identity and marriage and motherhood and how they change you.

There is a coincidence that hints at a connection that Lucy's family and Elsie's family have that ties them together in a sweet manner, making for a lovely ending to this story. Of the two stories, I found Elsie's more interesting, maybe because we got more of it as she was older. And Clem was such a sweetheart, he gives husbands a good name.

Ashley Hay's website is here.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Ashley Hay's tour. The rest of her stops are here:

Ashley Hay’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, November 27th: The Sketchy Reader and @thesketchyreader

Tuesday, November 28th: Jathan & Heather

Tuesday, November 28th: Literary Jo Reviews blog and @literaryjo

Wednesday, November 29th: 5 Minutes for Books

Thursday, November 30th: BookNAround

Monday, December 4th: West Metro Mommy Reads

Tuesday, December 5th: Kahakai Kitchen blog and @debinhawaii

Wednesday, December 6th: Patricia’s Wisdom

Thursday, December 7th: Novel Gossip blog and @novelgossip

Monday, December 11th: Katy’s Library blog and @katyslibrary

Wednesday, December 13th: Bookchickdi

Thursday, December 14th: Girl Who Reads

Monday, December 18th: Suzy Approved

Tuesday, December 19th: Write Read Life

Thursday, December 21st: Fiction Aficionado

Books Are Great Gifts 2017

Reprinted from the Citizen:

Now that Thanksgiving is done and we’ve eaten all the leftovers, it’s time to get serious about our holiday shopping, and that means our annual Books Make Great Gifts Guide. Books always fit and are never the wrong color.

Young children on your list will enjoy “Malala’s Magic Pencil”,  a book that encourages children to look at the world around them, written by the inspirational Malala Yousafzai and illustrated by Kerascoet. 

Malala's Magic Pencil

For middle grade students, debut novelist’s Karina Yan Glaser’s “The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street” introduces us to a lovely family of seven who live in an apartment in New York City. When their landlord announces they must move after Christmas, the Vanderbeeker kids work to change his mind. It’s a good old-fashioned family story told in a modern setting.

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street

The Young Adult readers will devour Marie Wu’s propulsive novel, “Warcross” about a young gamer who, while working as a spy at the International Warcross Championships, uncovers a conspiracy. It’s the first in the series, and it’s for fans of “The Hunger Games.” 

Warcross

A nice stocking stuffer book for older children is Admiral William H. Raven’s “Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life and Maybe the World”, taken from his speech to the graduating class at the University of Texas at Austin. It’s good advice we can all use. 

Make Your Bed

If you know a parent who needs a good laugh this season, Laurie Gelman’s “Class Mom” about a hilarious older mom who ends up once again as class mom for her son’s kindergarten will have them rolling on the floor. 

Class Mom

E. Robuck’s “#HockeyStrong” is geared toward parents who spent countless hours at the hockey rink, soccer or baseball field watching their child. This satire gets all the details just right, with plenty of laughs as well. 

#HockeyStrong

For the person who grew up watching 1970’s television, there are two good choices. “Caroline- Little House Revisited” by Sarah Miller tells the story of “Little House On The Prairie’ from mother Caroline’s viewpoint instead of daughter Laura’s.  

Caroline

If you know from the title of the book- “Meddling Kids”- that this book evokes Scooby-Doo and the gang, then you are right.  Edgar Cantero’s book is set in 1990 and reunites a group of former teen detectives known as the Blyton Summer Detective Club, who last saw each other in 1977. Let’s just say the intervening years haven’t been kind to them. 

Meddling Kids

For people on your list who like to have their hearts racing when they read, Maile Meloy’s “Do Not Become Alarmed”, about a group of children who go missing during a family cruise to a foreign port of call, will do the trick. The story is told from the points of the view of the frantic parents and the children who are missing, and even though the reader knows where the children are, it’s still a breathless journey. 

Do Not Become Alarmed

Novels set during WWII have been popular in the past few years (“All The Light You Cannot See”, “The Lilac Girls”), and Kate Quinn’s “The Alice Network”, set in two different time periods- WWI and WWII- is a perfect gift for those readers. It’s based on a real group of female spies who worked to defeat Germany, and it’s a pulse-pounder. 

The Alice Network

Another book based on a true incident is Wiley Cash’s novel “The Last Ballad”, the story of Ella Mae Wiggins, a young mother working in a North Carolina factory who ends up a labor organizer. Although set in 1929, it’s a timely story. 

The Last Ballad

For people who like to watch true crime shows, Monica Hesse’s “American Fire” tells the true story of a series of arsons that occurred in Virginia in 2012-2013, the investigation into the fires, and a town that has fallen on hard times. 

American Fire

Endurance

Biographies are always popular, and Sally Bedell Smith’s “Prince Charles” is perfect for the Anglophile fan of “The Crown” on Netflix. Astronaut Scott Kelly shares his story of spending a year in space in his memoir “Endurance”, a book for science enthusiasts. 

Prince Charles

If you like to give coffee table books, Pete Souza’s “Obama: An Intimate Portrait” is a collection of many photos he took as official photographer of the Obama administration. You’ll see iconic photos and many you haven’t seen before. 

Obama: An Intimate Portrait

And for the cook on your list, Ree Drummond's "The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It!" is geared towards busy people who want to make delicious meals for their families. 

The Pioneer Woman Cooks

#HockeyStrong by E. Robuck

#HockeyStrong by E. Robuck
Published by Elysian Fields Press ISBN 9780982229811
Trade paperback, $15, 324 pages
Ebook available $4.99

I just read a news article that said that the night before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest nights of the year for reading. I guess everybody traveling by plane and train leaves lots of time for a good book. (Just please don't read and drive- I can't believe that people actually do that.)

If you're looking for a good, quick read for the night before Thanksgiving, I have a great suggestion.

E. Robuck has written a very funny and pointed satire #HockeyStrong that will appeal to anyone who has spent time freezing their gloved hands off at a hockey rink, football stadium or baseball field. (My sons played high school baseball in Central New York in April- yeah, I wore my winter coat, hat, gloves and boots.)

Kate and Charlie Miller's 11-year-old son Brett made the cut for the elite travel team for hockey. Coach Butch has declared that hockey comes first- before school, before family, before vacations. When he sends a group text announcing an emergency practice IN ONE HOUR, if you don't show up, you are benched. If he can get them into a tournament at the last minute, you end your family vacation and come back. In "a season that will last as long as a pregnancy, and costs as much as a small island in the Caribbean", your family life will revolve around hockey and nothing else.

The Millers don't completely buy into the entire 'hockey is life' scenario. They don't think that Brett is headed straight to the NHL, even though he is the best scorer on the team. Coach Butch doesn't like Charlie because he never played hockey as a kid, and he takes that out on Brett. Brett just wants to play hockey with his buddies.

Robuck's hockey parents are an exaggerated group (or maybe not?). There is a dad who keeps a detailed binder for his son titled "Kyle's Path to Hockey Greatness."  Bill and Tina Church's wardrobe consists solely of clothes emblazoned with their son's name and number (in team colors of course- and they are sales representatives for the company that sells them if you would like some for yourself. The team gets a cut of the action!). They also host a podcast about being a sports parent.

Piper ignores her two young daughters, and is social media maven, immediately posting updates about the team and her son's progress to Facebook. The competition between Kate and Piper to post first is hilarious. Piper also has a drinking problem and embarrasses herself and her family more than once.

There are parking lot fist fights between moms, a child disqualified because his parents lied about his age, a child trying to play with a broken foot, a parent who surruptiously sprinkles protein powder on her son's Nutella- the level of craziness seems both unbelievable and familiar at the same time.

Robuck spent many years sitting on the sidelines, and her imagination ran wild in this book, which she states is based on no one in particular, but the reader may recognize the character types here.

I highly recommend #HockeyStrong for those who have already finished with the sports parent scenario or those just looking for a really good laugh. Maybe your family won't seem so crazy this Thanksgiving once you've met the Polar Bears' parents.

Erika Robuck's website is here.

The Garden of Lamentations by Deborah Crombie

The Garden of Lamentations by Deborah Crombie
Published by William Morrow ISBN 9780062271648
Trade paperback, $14.99, 414 pages

The first book I read by Deborah Crombie was the 14th in her Gemma James/Duncan Kincaid mystery series No Mark Upon Her. When a female rower, who happened to be a Met detective, drowns under mysterious circumstances, Scotland Yard detectives James and Kincaid are on the case.

I was immediately drawn into the story, thanks mostly to the interesting characters. Gemma and Duncan are work and life partners, and we get to know the other detectives, Melody and Doug, who assist them. The central London area where the action takes place is also an intriguing character.

Crombie's 17th book in the series, The Garden of Lamentations, begins a few years later. Although I have missed a few books in between, I was able to pick up without missing too much.

A young nanny is found dead in a walled off garden area, accessible only by the people who live adjacent to it. Gemma is drawn into the investigation by a friend of hers who lives near there.

Meanwhile, when an undercover cop is found dead, a suspected suicide, Kincaid is contacted by his former boss, whom he hasn't talked to since the boss abruptly transferred Kincaid. After Kincaid meets with his boss in a restaurant, the boss is attacked and left for dead.

Kincaid becomes obsessed with the attack and the possible connection to the undercover cop's death. Was it really suicide or is it something more sinister? Are cops being targeted and is he next?

In this story, everyone seems to be split up and pulled apart. Melody takes over Gemma's responsibilities while Gemma is pulled into the dead nanny's murder. Doug is no longer working with Kincaid. Kincaid's preoccupation with his case has kept him away from his and Gemma's children- teenage Kit, seven-year-old Toby and three year-old Charlotte. Gemma is upset that he is not confiding in her.

It took me awhile to get into The Garden of Lamentations, but once I did, I couldn't stop reading until I was done. The neighborhood where the nanny was killed is filled with many interesting Agatha Christie-like characters- the parents who lost a young son last year and blamed the dead nanny, a busybody woman obsessed with the garden, the nanny's highstrung boss and her son who wants to be a ballet dancer- that took a bit to keep straight.

Kincaid's investigation leads him back to the case from No Mark Upon Her, as well as to an incident from 1994 involving an undercover police operation infiltrating possible terrorist organizations. There is alot to keep track of here, but Crombie keeps her eye on the ball and everything comes together in the end.

I liked that there are so many female police officers in the story. Gemma, Melody, Gemma's new partner in the nanny investigation is a woman, and later in the story we meet a high ranking woman in Scotland Yard. It's no big deal here, the way it should be.

Fans of Irish mystery writer Tana French (The Dublin Murder Squad series) will like Deborah Crombie's The Garden of Lamentations. They both write taut, character-driven mysteries that immerse the reader in the location of the story. I highly recommend The Garden of Lamentations, although I will say that this perhaps is not a good book to jump into the series with. People who have read previous books in the series will get much more out of it.

Deborah Crombie's website is here.
My review of No Mark Upon Her is here.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Deborah Crombie's tour. The rest of her stops are here:

Tour Stops

Wednesday, November 15th: Into the Hall of Books

Thursday, November 16th: bookchickdi

Friday, November 17th: 5 Minutes For Books

Friday, November 17th: Thoughts From a Highly Caffeinated Mind

Monday, November 20th: Tina Says…

Tuesday, November 21st: Tales of a Book Addict

Wednesday, November 22nd: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Monday, November 27th: Books and Bindings

Tuesday, November 28th: Jathan & Heather

Wednesday, November 29th: Mama Reads Blog

Thursday, November 30th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Friday, December 1st: I Wish I Lived in a Library

Monday, December 4th: Ace and Hoser Blook

Weekend Cooking- The Comfort Food Diaries by Emily Nunn

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.

The Comfort Food Diaries by Emily Nunn
Published by Atria ISBN 9781451674200
Hardcover, $26, 320 pages

Emily Nunn, a former New Yorker magazine editor, was in love and living with her fiance`, "the Engineer" she called him, and his lovely young daughter in Chicago. While on vacation in Barcelona, she got word that her brother Gil had committed suicide.

Emily was devastated and the Engineer was upset that Emily couldn't just snap out of her depression and move on. The Engineer broke up with her and she lost her fiance, his daughter, her home and had no job. She began to drink heavily, and one night she poured out her heartache on Facebook.

The next morning, she discovered many of her Facebook friends had responded to her post, asking Emily to come visit them. Her sister Elaine got Emily into the Betty Ford Clinic to deal with her alcohol problem, and took charge of Emily when she got out of rehab.

But things soured quickly. In Emily's family, her mother and one of sisters didn't speak to anyone else in the family. Elaine would decide not to speak to Emily for long periods of time, and Emily never knew why. Emily grew up "in a family of seven- an exquisitely dysfunctional southern family, in various members stopped speaking for years in various convoluted and confusing configurations."

Emily decided to go on on comfort food tour. She would travel the country, visiting various extended family and friends, and that led to her memoir The Comfort Food Diaries: My Quest for the Perfect Dish to Mend a Broken Heart. She stayed with an aunt and uncle in Virginia, trying to learn why her family acted the way that they did. Childhood pals, high school friends, college chums, cousins- they all invited Emily to come visit and cook with them.

The Comfort Food Diaries is part food memoir, part travel guide, part family story, and part self-discovery story, filled with wonderful recipes for the food that nourishes the appetite and the soul. Emily found that she wasn't the only one who had been hurt, and she discovered the resilience to face her life head-on.

The most moving part of the story was when Emily and Elaine went to see their long-estranged father. He was suffering from dementia, lonely and living amid squalor . He had left the family when Emily was a young girl after her mother had taken up with another man and he moved out. It was heartbreaking to hear his story.

There are so many fabulous recipes in this book that I want to try- Toni's Tomato Sauce, Great-grandmother's Mean Lemon Cake,  Bea's Magic Salad Dressing, Aunt Mariah's Pot Roast, Magnificient Sour Cream Corn Muffins- it is a nice mix of traditional family, and more modern restaurant fare.

If you like memoirs about families and food, The Comfort Food Diaries is a good read for you. I recommend it.