"A STRONG, CAPTIVATING NOVEL." --San Francisco Chronicle For Caroline the kitchen has always been her home, and Italian food her specialty. In fact, the minute she sets foot in Italy--and meets the appreciative Angelo, who loves her cooking like nobody's business--Caroline decides to stay. But even the magic spices of Italy can't make her marriage taste right. Angelo takes over the raising of their beautiful daughter Olivia, who, by the age of ten, hardly speaks to her mother. Caroline leaves the country and her daughter for four years, until Olivia seeks out her mother in New York. Caroline is overjoyed and hopeful--until she reacquaints herself with the difficult, demanding daughter she could never stop loving but discovers she doesn't exactly like.... "Between the risotto and the romance, Rossner treats family life with a wise and witty touch." --Us Magazine "Everything you expect from a Judith Rossner novel: story, character, language, and uniqueness--and more--a new ripeness, a maturity. It's altogether a deep and satisfying journey." --Betty Rollin
Judith Rossner surely caught our eyes with "Looking For Mr. Goodbar," an on target encapsulation of the singles scene. With this title she hones in on troubled family relationships as she relates the story of a celebrated cook and her estranged daughter. Caroline, the narrator, has grown up in New York City, neglected by career driven parents. Seeking affection Caroline stakes claims on the family cooks. When the last of them, Anna, returns to a family restaurant in Italy, Caroline scrambles after her. After marrying the father of her child, the insensitive womanizing Angelo, Caroline takes over the running of the restaurant's kitchen, and is soon repeating her mother's mistakes. When Olivia, her daughter is 12, Caroline returns to New York City without her. The gist of Rossner's story begins when a sutbborn and antagonistic Olivia follows her mother to America. Mix the mother daughter relationship with the doctor who lives in the apartment above Caroline, and Caroline's mother who is now a wonderful grandmother, then stir in all of these women seeking their place in the world. Rossner's description of food, and culinary how-to are as satisfying as the novel's ending. - Gail Cooke
This is a great book!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
If you liked Marilyn French's Her Mother's Daughter you'll love this book. Judith Rossner does a wonderful job developing her characters. You'll feel like you really know all of them when you're done reading the book. I really can't recommend this book highly enough!
A good recepie -Food, Italy, Single Mum and New York
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 27 years ago
I read this on a recent holiday - ideal for reading on the beach and dreaming of a woman who could cook you gourmet italian meals every day of your life! Do such people really exist or is this why the genre is fiction. I learnt a lot about food and New York style neurosis. Got a bit slow towards the end but overall a good light read
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