Review by Shellie: The Recipe Club – a tale of food and friendship by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel

 

A tasty tale about two friends and their lives in letters to each other, where they share some delicious sounding recipes.

Synopsis:  This is an epistolary novel told via letters between the two main characters. Lily is a free spirited beauty and Val a smart and educated doctor. Through the letters, started as little girls, they share recipes and their lives. At first told by emails, the story moves back into time and the use of postal mail when the two women are younger. As they tell their tale of friendship, family dysfunctions, and the drama which has separated them in their early twenties you get to read their recipes as well.

My Thoughts:  This is a “sweet” tale, of two friends and their platonic love for each other. (I do want to mention that one small ingredient of the book is LGBT giving it some interest, complications, and intrigue). As the letters catalog their lives, conflicts, emotional drama, and life experiences during the 1960’s and 70’s, there is invariably some historical content too.

The hard bound edition that I read is printed on lovely thick pages. The recipes have artsy doodles and interesting set ups appropriate for each event and the ages of the girls/women. All this makes it a beautiful and physically heavy book. What is the best part about this book is that the recipes are amazing. They are full fat, comfort food and drinks, all of which are associated with the life events happening for each of the characters.  Definitely fun!

I enjoyed this book but in the end I would say my quibble with the book is that the ending was a bit “cheesy” (pun intended) and slightly unbelievable, but others may enjoy its twist. In balance I would say that I liked this book and would give it 3 stars. I would also give the recipes a 4.5 stars but they are not for anyone considering any sort of weight loss.

For more information on the book, the authors, as well as purchasing links please see Layers of Thought's preview for The Recipe Club.

Once again thanks for reading Layers of Thought. Have a great Tuesday!