They meet on Monday nights -- strangers drawn together at a cooking class, each with his or her own reason for being there. Carl and Helen are an older couple who seem to have found happily-ever-after; Claire is a harried young mother taking a break from her husband and children; Tom can't quite hide the deep sorrow that has touched his life; Chloe, the youngest student, hides her vulnerability behind a rebellious façade; Ian, more at home with computers than people, is immediately drawn to the exotic and beautiful Antonia, who has come from Italy in search of new experiences; and Isabelle struggles to hold onto old memories even while trying to make new ones. Lillian, their instructor, has been comfortable in the kitchen since she was a small child and believes in the healing power of food. She teaches her students to see cooking more as a way of life than as a set of procedures.

I loved being invited into Lillian's warm, welcoming kitchen, watching the different dishes come together during each class period under her patient instruction. But I also loved getting a glimpse into the lives of her students, each of whom (including Lillian) gets a spotlight in the book. The sensory details are not overdone, just sprinkled throughout the descriptions of each class period so you can almost smell, see and taste the ingredients and the finished products. That same attention to detail lends itself to the exquisitely drawn portraits of the students as well. Erica Bauermeister has chosen her words as carefully as any master chef chooses the correct seasonings to produce a delightful and satisfying creation that you'll savor.

Book Summary

Once a month, eight students gather in Lillian's restaurant for a cooking class. Among them is Claire, a young woman coming to terms with her new identity as a mother; Tom, a lawyer whose life has been overturned by loss; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer adapting to life in America; and Carl and Helen, a long-married couple whose union contains surprises the rest of the class would never suspect...

The students have come to learn the art behind Lillian's soulful dishes, but it soon becomes clear that each seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. And soon they are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of what they create.

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