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9th out of 48 books
—
39 voters
Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries
by
Bharti Kirchner (Goodreads Author)
Sunya Malhotra, a young American woman whose parents had migrated from India, is the head baker and owner of Pastries, a warm and cozy bakery in Seattle. Sunya loves baking and has transformed her fabulous cakes and tarts into delicious works of art. The success of her beloved bakery is put in jeopardy, however, when a chain bakery threatens to open up down the street from...more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
July 19th 2003
by St. Martin's Press
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With Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries, Bharti Kirchner delivers a story that breaks the mold of both recipe-based novels and East-Asian Indian heritage narratives. Sunya Mulhotra, proprietor of the Pastries Café, panics when a corporation bakery announces its opening just a few blocks from her store. She is already recovering from the betrayal of her live-in partner, and with this added stress, Sunya discovers she can no longer bake—not even her famous eponymous chocolate cake.
As if...more
As if...more
I finished this about a week ago and forgot to journal it. I really loved this book right up until page 314 (yes, for some reason the page number stands out in my mind), which is at least 90% through the book, when an aspect of Sunya's trip (won't say more or I may spoil it) just was not plausible or credible to me at all. * Sigh* it was so good until then - I'm sure endings are the hardest part of a book to write. I did love all the bakery atmosphere and reading about how and what they baked re...more
This week I finished a book called Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries by Bharti Kirchner in one day. (I couldn’t put it down.) I have this weird fascination with Indian culture, but then mix it in with the art of pastry baking, Japanese culture, finding yourself, etc., it becomes one of those times that you can’t put the book down until it’s 1’30 in the morning, and you’ve finally finished the story. Loved it, loved it. Loved the movie in my head as I read it. There were a few things...more
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This was a surprisingly entertaining book, about a bakery owner who struggles with losing her baking mojo. Set in Seattle, the author does a good job of capturing the ambience of our fair city during the fall and winter, with detailed descriptions of Wallingford and other local haunts, which is fun.
For a book that would be considered "chick lit," this book has a little more depth and avoids many of the cliches we find in chick lit: a job working for the wealthy who live a lifestyle the protagon...more
For a book that would be considered "chick lit," this book has a little more depth and avoids many of the cliches we find in chick lit: a job working for the wealthy who live a lifestyle the protagon...more
I had hoped for better. I was on a restaurant/food reading binge at the time and this was the final of three books. The subplot of the central character’s mother was more interesting than the primary storyline. It was, at times, entirely too predictable. It was apparent what she was striving for but could not grasp either in language or plot. In the end, I had not built a bond with the central character and the ending left me unfulfilled. I was more disappointed than anything else.
I was in the mood for froth, and that's what this book delivered. Although I could tell that Kirchner had some native talent for inventive, concise description, her often overly-formal phrasing sometimes made things as awkward as her heroine, Sunya. And while the story-within-the-story format worked well for certain flashbacks, the added narration of the movie that Sunya's would-be beau is working on was just too clunky to believe. I skipped all of it.
Still, it was a pleasant sunny-afternoon rea...more
Still, it was a pleasant sunny-afternoon rea...more
i really liked this book! it made me hungry but i enjoyed hearing all about the process of making the delicious baked goods. you can definitely tell that the author wrote cookbooks and enjoys food as well!enjoying this book/author led me to search out other things by he and i am now reading darjeeling. it was a bit slower to start but i'm getting into it!
The owner of an independent bakery is up against a chain of bakeries....sound a little familiar? I enjoyed the descriptions of the goodies but found the story itself lacking.
I love stories that use food as a backdrop to a romance or a family predicament. This one satisfied my appetite. Light reading.
This book was pretty formulaic, but I enjoyed that it took place in Seattle in the Wallingford district.
I like reading about desserts more than tea, I guess. Also appreciated the spiritual side of the book.
The author adds an interesting ingredient to baking skills in the story-that of mindfulness...
About an Indian baker in Seattle who starts her own pastry shop...how could I NOT like it?!
Very fun read - love and pastries and travel - what's not to like?
Love and dessert...does it get much better?
So, so. I loved the stuff about the bakery, but the "love story" was lame.
I really enjoyed this book, lots of unexpected twists.
Not the best writing in the world, but this book indulged my (not so) secret desire to work in and possibly own a coffee shop/bakery. I could relate to the emotional upheaval of the main character, too. And reading this book was way easier on the waistline than going to an actual bakery. :)
view 1 comment
Jun 07, 2008
Cindi (cheesygiraffe)
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2008-read
Very beautiful book. Sunya means emptiness and having been depressed before, more than once, I can see how Sunya herself arrived there. But going to Japan she founds out how to let go and also mets a person she has needed to all her life.
I wanted to like this book, but I detested the ending - the justification her father gives her after abandoning his wife and newborn daughter "for the greater good" - rubbish I say.
This was a fun, light read that made me very hungry for some of the treats mentioned in the book.
Not a very realistic kitchen.
A bit predictable.
But there is a good message.
A bit predictable.
But there is a good message.
Yum, yum! An exquisite Indian expat novel about baking.
An enjoyable read-- not too heavy and not too light.
May 15, 2013
Gundeep Arora
marked it as to-read
Apr 23, 2013
Shamilah Gillani
marked it as to-read
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Bharti Kirchner is the author of nine books—five critically acclaimed novels and four cookbooks and hundreds of short pieces for magazines and newspapers. Her fifth novel (a mystery this time), Tulip Season: A Mitra Basu Mystery is due out in 2012.
Her earlier novels include Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries, Darjeeling, Sharmila’s Book, and Shiva Dancing.
Bharti has written for Food &...more
More about Bharti Kirchner...
Her earlier novels include Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries, Darjeeling, Sharmila’s Book, and Shiva Dancing.
Bharti has written for Food &...more
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