Erin Castleman

I really did want to like this book ... And true to the rating, I found it OK. I didn't like it nor did I dislike it. I can appreciate the depth of her reporting and her skill in crafting a narrative that seemed more like a novel, replete with an interesting cast of characters, the treatment of whom Boo resists making heroes or villains out of. But in the end, it never grabbed me.

Truly, I wanted to like this book, I really wanted to like it ... I am a faithful follower of The Wednesday Chef blog but this book didn't do it for me. It's a little twee, too cutesy in spots, almost cliche (e.g. Are we expected to believe that the author stuffed the used napkin and fork she finds in the yard after her wedding into her pocket as talismans? Are we really?) Aside from the half a dozen typographical errors, she overuses words to the point of being trite - can she find another word to describe the summer within the same 5 pages than “languid” or resist constant references to “peeling bells”? Hopefully the recipes are better than the writing.