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Having just returned from France where all citizens, I think, are born with the ability to taste emotions in food, I must say that I loved this book. Loved it. You must read it. It’s fantastic.
Rose Edelstein discovers on her ninth birthday that she can sense emotions of those who prepare food in the food she eats. The cook. The field hand. The farmer. The factory worker. The waiter.
It is a difficult gift. She learns of her mother’s deep sadness. She finds she is unable to eat most food as she l ...more
Rose Edelstein discovers on her ninth birthday that she can sense emotions of those who prepare food in the food she eats. The cook. The field hand. The farmer. The factory worker. The waiter.
It is a difficult gift. She learns of her mother’s deep sadness. She finds she is unable to eat most food as she l ...more

The basic premise: On the day of her 9th birthday, Rose Edelstein is enjoying her mom's lemon cake with chocolate frosting...until she discovers that she can actually taste her mother's emotions...in the cake. From that day forward, Rose struggles with this new-found ability to taste the feelings and emotions of the people who make the food she eats. She also has to deal with the family secrets she learns through this strange ability.
I would compare this book to Margot Livesey's "Eva Moves the F ...more
I would compare this book to Margot Livesey's "Eva Moves the F ...more

I can handle Haruki Murakami's magical realism, because I know he is playing off of aspects of Japanese culture and mythology, as well as his own fictional peccadilloes that I can relate to, yet Ms. Bender's magical realism centers around food and some type of sci-fi that just didn't go down easily for me. I know the heightened "powers" are supposed to be illustrative of social and family issues, but heightened emotional intuition wasn't enough to carry the story for me and the older brother's a
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Comments from the author about why she doesn't use quotes to highlight the dialog..."Yeah, I often don't and I don't in this book. Kind of aesthetic choice in certain way because I like how it looks, but it also feels like that line between her internal and external world is a little blurry, which I think is kind of her deal." http://www.npr.org/templates/story/st...
Her comments also seem to explain the way the brother blurs and disappears.
I didn't like the book. I don't recommend the book. I d ...more
Her comments also seem to explain the way the brother blurs and disappears.
I didn't like the book. I don't recommend the book. I d ...more

A very bizarre book. When I finished it, I wasn't really sure what I had read, there seemed to be so many parts of it that were just left hanging. It was an interesting story that was written an interesting way, but I think it could have been so much more.
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Forgot to enter this. My current audio book. I was excited by the sound of this--it sounded like a Sarah Addison Allen novel. But now, 3/4 of the way through it's just weird. I'm going to finish it though. Some really unbelievably odd writing. Here are a few examples--most of it sounds like someone trying to hard in a creative writing program:
a pepper "PILLAR" instead of shaker or cellar
"purple-glassed" (votive candle)
"during the babysit" or even "in the babysits"
A sandwich starts off wrapped in ...more
a pepper "PILLAR" instead of shaker or cellar
"purple-glassed" (votive candle)
"during the babysit" or even "in the babysits"
A sandwich starts off wrapped in ...more

I've never read her before.
...more

Jul 13, 2010
Stacy
marked it as to-read

Jan 18, 2011
Sharon
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Jan 23, 2011
Rachel
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Mar 08, 2011
Meghan
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Aug 08, 2011
Laura
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Jan 12, 2012
Liz
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Oct 07, 2015
Frankie
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Sep 15, 2017
Curlysue
marked it as to-read