The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. By Violet

I picked this book up while browsing at the bookstore earlier this summer. When the Daily Beast listed it as one of their best books of the year, I decided to give it a try.
I was fascinated by the premise of the book - a young girl discovers that she can taste the feelings of the person who has made her meal.

One great advantage I had with this book is I read it incredibly fast – I had an early afternoon off of work, a weekend at the beach and a long ferry line which pretty much took care of the entire book.

Amiee Bender has a refreshing writing style that is straightforward but uniquely captures moods, emotions and characters. One of my favorites was her description of Rose’s friends from school, they were “down-hill girls.” As if all of their lives they were just coasting with no real obstacles to overcome. The imagery is wonderful and you instantly get the impression that she is going for.

There was something about the beginning that made me think it was supposed to be set in the 50s or 60s. Maybe it was the necular family, the mother staying at home and the father off work every morning with dinner on the table when he returns. But the peppered in references to e-mail, medical TV dramas, leaf blowers and other modern amenities of life bring it crashing back into present day. It was jarring to constantly remind myself of the time, instead of just letting the scenes wash over me.

I was drawn into the story and the idea that the narrator could gather so much knowledge simply by eating a meal. What consequences would this have on her life? How would this change the relationships she had with her family? What advantages and disadvantages would this bring? What did this say about the role of food?

Much of my questions are explored but the story takes a strange and unexpected turn near the middle of the book. This strange shift of focus really took away from the central character and, what I thought, was the central idea of the book.

However, Bender’s writing kept me transfixed on the story. And even though I was unsure of where the story was headed it seems to wrap back around to the original themes bought up in the beginning.

But I still have an unsettled feeling about the novel. A co-worker asked if I would recommend it and I was stumped.

However, I will say this, I’m likely going to go back and read more of Amiee Bender’s work.

Violet in Seychelles Fiddle - distressed brown booties

weekend getaway. by orange

This past weekend, a couple of us packed up our cars and headed southwest of Seattle for some relaxation time. I was looking forward to it all week and especially felt it was needed after coming home to this fun treat Friday after work:

Our "mellow" dog Meika somehow figured out how to get into our kitchen cabinet (with I'm sure some tag-team help from our other dog, Payton), dump out the trash and then, quite impressively tangle her hind legs into the cords/tubes that connect the faucet to the water/drain.  Oh vey!  I digress.

One of our friend's families owns a beautiful beach house on Harstine Island, WA  Here is a little of what the scenery looks like:

(thanks to Washington Real Estate Resouce for the picture)

Our friend's parents have an itch for antiques so the house was full of beautiful shabby chic and aged furniture that makes you just want to wind down, put your feet up and relax.  So we did...just that.

My favorite moment of the weekend was finally getting some time to read.  There is a gorgeous deck off the back of the house with an amazing view of the Puget Sound.  On the deck there are a variety of lawn chairs all warmed up by the morning sun.  It was heavenly.

And now it's back to work; back to reality...and back to training 101 with our dogs so we don't have this mishap again.

Hope you all enjoyed the weekend!

orange