The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake; Aimee Bender
(Doubleday - June 1, 2010)
(amazon website)
The wondrous Aimee Bender conjures the lush and moving story of a girl whose magical gift is really a devastating curse.
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 emotions in the cake. 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.
The curse her gift has bestowed is the secret knowledge all families keep hidden—her mother’s life outside the home, her father’s detachment, her brother’s clash with the world. Yet as Rose grows up she learns to harness her gift and becomes aware that there are secrets even her taste buds cannot discern.
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is a luminous tale about the enormous difficulty of loving someone fully when you know too much about them. It is heartbreaking and funny, wise and sad, and confirms Aimee Bender’s place as “a writer who makes you grateful for the very existence of language” (San Francisco Chronicle).
Sounds like a very unique book! Look what I'm waiting for here:
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That looks so good that I just ordered it for my Kindle! Thanks for the heads up.
ReplyDeleteI am also anxiously awaiting Chapter and Hearse (A Booktown Mystery), by Lorna Barrett, due out in August.
Sounds interesting, and also vuagely horrifying. It also reminds me of the time I won a lemon cake in a cake walk at my fourth grade fair which someone later stole when I wasn't looking. Who knew lemon cake could be so depressing?
ReplyDeleteOh what a fabulous find. I was drawn by the title, but then I read the synopsis and fell in love. I want this one too now.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds pretty good ( and I love Lemon Cake).
ReplyDeleteNice pick!
Sounds very nice. Love the cover!
ReplyDeleteI really like that. It's got a magical realism flavor to it. You can tell when something is baked with love and care--why not sense when it's made by someone with secrets, too?
ReplyDeleteMy Waiting on Wednesday pick is over at bookwanderer.
The book sounds great and I love the title and cover! This looks like a book worth waiting for!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of this, but it looks to be interesting. Here's Mine
ReplyDeleteI'm so looking forward to this one, too!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous pick! I can't get over the title, it's so beautiful! My WOW is at The Crowded Leaf.
ReplyDeleteOh, my, what a unique story!
ReplyDeleteMine is here:
http://laurel-rainsnowsaccidentallife.blogspot.com/2010/02/waiting-on-wednesday_24.html
That title is definitely unique. Sounds like a good book as well.
ReplyDeleteOh my! I love the title and I love the cover!!! Just how yummy does that cake look? I am on a diet right now so that cake is screaming my name........."Booooooooof!!! Eat me!"
ReplyDeleteCan you hear it?
Anyway, Here is my WOW.
I love Aimee Bender and I love the title of this book. TO me, lemon cake is the most disregarded of cake flavors, though I know the title refers to something else entirely! Great pick, this one goes right on the list! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHummm. Interesting concept.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds a bit scary - but fascinating too.
ReplyDeleteThis one sounds riveting! I love the premise. I must read it!
ReplyDeleteI'm adding this to my TBR list. I love the title, and the premise sounds wonderful -- both fanciful and realistic.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that came to my head was, Yummy!! :)
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds interesting too!
What an interesting premise for a book. I never thought of lemon cake as a sad food before!
ReplyDeleteI love the title! sounds good!
ReplyDeleteSB
not too serious i hope
Sounds like a really good book! And now I am craving a big piece of cake!
ReplyDeleteThat is a fabulous premise for a story and the title is memorable as well; I hope the book delivers.
ReplyDeleteI've seen this around, and it looks so good!
ReplyDeleteWhat a unique premise -- kind of reminds me a bit of Like Water for Chocolate when the protagonist cried into the wedding cake and all the guests became sad.
ReplyDeleteThanks for spotlighting a book I might have missed otherwise.
And some bites of a lemon-chocolate cake was the beginning point? No wonder this novel is described as "a luminous tale."
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At first the description reminded me of LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, but the more I read, the more I saw how much possibility there is in this concept. Sounds like it will make for an interesting read!
ReplyDeleteI came to your blog just today and love your selection of books. This book is so different, so unique.
ReplyDeleteWow that book sounds really unusual and I love a book with a mother/daugher theme so I may have to check it out!
ReplyDeleteI went to a reading with Aimee Bender-- she's very cool-- and this sounds like a great book!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! This sounds amazing! I am going to add it to my wish list right now!! Thanks, Diane!
ReplyDeleteSounds very different !
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