The Cookbook Club
A Novel of Food and Friendship
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
New York Times
bestselling author Beth Harbison whips together a witty and charming--and
delicious--story about the secrets we keep, the friends we make, and the food
we cook.
MUST LOVE
BUTTER: The Cookbook Club is now open to members.
Foodies come join us! No diets! No skipping dessert!
Margo
Everson sees the call out for the cookbook club and knows she’s found her
people. Recently dumped by her self-absorbed husband, who frankly isn’t much
of a loss, she has little to show for her marriage but his ‘parting gift’—a dilapidated
old farm house—and a collection of well-loved cookbooks
Aja
Alexander just hopes her new-found friends won’t notice that that every time
she looks at food, she gets queasy. It’s hard hiding a pregnancy, especially
one she can’t bring herself to share with her wealthy boyfriend and his
snooty mother.
Trista
Walker left the cutthroat world of the law behind and decided her fate was to
open a restaurant…not the most secure choice
ever. But there she could she indulge her passion for creating delectable
meals and make money at the same time.
The
women bond immediately, but it’s not all popovers with melted brie and
blackberry jam. Margo’s farm house is
about to fall down around her ears; Trista’s restaurant needs a makeover and
rat-removal fast; and as for Aja, just how long can you hide a baby bump
anyway?
In
this delightful novel, these women form bonds that go beyond a love grilled
garlic and soy sauce shrimp. Because what is more important in life than
friendship…and food?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Harbison (Every Time You Go Away) cooks up a delectable novel about a woman who finds a way to renew her life. In Washington, D.C., foodie Margo Brinker's marriage comes to a sudden end when her husband leaves her for his therapist. She feels disillusioned by the so-called friends in her book club, who aren't available to commiserate with her, and heads to the internet for something a little bit more real. She finds the Cookbook Club, started by Trista, who was fired from her lawyer job, now runs a bar, and convenes the club IRL to try new recipes. The club becomes the focal point for several characters, including Aja, a yoga teacher who gets pregnant and takes over her ex-boyfriend's mother's garden (finding an unexpected relationship), while Max, a figure from Margo's past who is now a movie star hiding from the spotlight, surprises her with a DM. Margo and Max take on the job of fixing up a piece of collateral property from Margo's divorce, and Max recognizes the potential Margo's ex missed in the property. As expected, romance ensues. Through recipes and easy reading, Harbison's pleasant tale shines a light on her characters' successes and failures. Despite a few clich s, this is a mostly delicious story.
Customer Reviews
Plot holes you could drive a food truck through...
A fun enough read but don’t look for even vaguely believable characters (none of them are) or any logic to the plot. Ridiculous connections are thrown in on a whim apparently, and not just at the end to finish off the book neatly, but throughout. Personalities flip so fast your head will spin.
The cooking side, which got me in, has some merits but there’s a lot of show-off ingredient mentions that belong back in the extreme foodie-ism of the 1980s and 1990s.
Or maybe that’s just because it’s American and the idea of Gruyere cheese seems exotic.
Very lightweight, some amusing moments, but so many more annoying ones (the whole Calvin thing is just lazy and dumb) that I was unusually motivated to leave a review. Women deserve better than this in their chick lit.