Delicious!

Two covers.

 

 

Delicious!

Ruth Reichl

 

I was so sad when I finished this book, because I delighted in every phase of the stories and greatly anticipated finding minutes and hours to read it.

A first novel for Ruth Reichl, though she has at least five successful memoirs and food-related books already to her credit. I really hope she writes another novel, soon!

Very likable and interesting characters, though a few times I had to stop and recalibrate my brain cells--reminding myself who was who and what part he/she plays in the story. Still, well-drawn characters and settings. This is a very sensual book; though, mostly not in a sexual context.

 

Astray

 

 

Jane Johnson grips the rail of the Riversale, watching the estuary water heave and sink below her. She reckons the dates: nearly five weeks since she boarded at Belfast, and the city of Québec is only one more day west. The provisions might almost have lasted, if it hadn't been for the heat and the maggots in the ham. The same journey took Henry eight weeks last year, when the seas were high. Tomorrow she will be beside him.

Today she is bedside herself. On this voyage Jane has discovered herself to be a most imperfect creature...

"Counting the Days"

Astray

Emma Donoghue

pg. 77

Beautifully written; historical fiction. Short stories. I love her approach. Selecting news from small historical events: social history she calls it. Donoghue weaves facts into stories of interesting characters and stirring emotions, and captivates.

From a NPR interview...

I just keep an eye out for these things. I read social history. I, you know, in art galleries, I read the little captions underneath the paintings. I listen to the radio and just keep my ears open. I think the only difference between me and other people is that when I hear of an interesting historical incident, I immediately write it down and Google it. I'm just a very persistent researcher and I find things all the time. I would say the 14 stories in Astray come from about more like 40 different incidents that I came across.