Have Your Cake and Read It, Too

One of my favorite books about food is Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl, which recounts the food critic's escapades as she visited restaurants in disguise. I think the best part about it is her ability to describe food. Yes, I realize that this is probably an important skill to have as a food critic. But Reichl can describe food in such mouthwatering ways, and even items that I know I wouldn't like sounded tempting. She could sort through the ingredients and combinations that she tasted in such an amazing way.

The young protagonist of the novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake takes food tasting to a whole new level. Rose Edelstein finds out just before her ninth birthday that she has a unique gift--when she eats something, she can taste the feelings of the person who made the food. The lemon cake her mother serves her reveals something she doesn't want to know--her cheerful, loving mother is suffering from deep despair.

Aimee Bender's latest novel is as unusual as Rose's gift. The language is lovely--Bender has a gift all her own. Rose's emotional landscape seems familiar in spite of the strangeness of it all, and the magical realism works well in Rose's story. Things get stranger as Rose discovers more about her brother and her father, and there were a couple of points where I just couldn't swallow the "magic." Still, I cared about Rose and wanted to find out the rest of her story.

One aspect of this novel that I enjoyed very much was the exploration of how being different or having a special gift changes your life and the lives of those around you. We tend to assume that having a unique talent is always beneficial to one's life, but it is possible that it can also isolate a person and make it harder to understand or be understood by others.

Rose has one ally; her brother's best friend, George, understands her gift and encourages her. As I was reading I felt almost physical relief whenever he re-entered the story, because he gave Rose (and me) hope.

I did not care much for the ending; if anyone reads or has read this novel and has some insight on the conclusion for me, I'd love to hear it. Unfortunately, I did not read this one for a book club, so I won't get a bunch of other opinions on it! While I wouldn't say it is for everyone, this novel is so unusual and beautifully written that you might want to sample it.