This is a story about accepting the people we loveβthe people we have to love and the people we choose to love, the families weβre given and the families we make. Itβs the story of two women adrift in New York, a widow and an almost-orphan, each searching for someone sheβs lost. Itβs the story of how, even in moments of grief and darkness, there are joys waiting nearby.
Lorca spends her life poring over cookbooks, making croissants andchocolat chaud, seeking out rare ingredients, all to earn the love of her distracted chef of a mother, who is now packing her off to boarding school. In one last effort to prove herself indispensable, Lorca resolves to track down the recipe for her motherβs ideal meal, an obscure Middle Eastern dish called masgouf.
Victoria, grappling with her husbandβs death, has been dreaming of the daughter they gave up forty years ago. An Iraqi Jewish immigrant who used to run a restaurant, she starts teaching cooking lessons; Lorca signs up.
Together, they make cardamom pistachio cookies, baklava, kubba with squash. They also begin to suspect they are connected by more than their love of food. Soon, though, they must reckon with the past, the future, and the truthβwhatever it might be. Bukra fil mish mish, the Arabic saying goes. Tomorrow, apricots may bloom.
This book took emotional hunger to new heights in metaphor. The work led me to a dark and emotionally uncomfortable place, yet I give a huge applause to the author for getting me there. For many of the pages I just wanted to jump into the phrases and either shake some sense into a character Β or just simply hug them. Cooking, mothers and daughters, love and loss, and filling the empty spot in our souls were the paramount themes in this book. The character Blot was an awesome branch to the story and I loved his name as for me, it reminded me of cleaning up a spill and in the protagonistβs case, cleaning up her blood from her incessant and heartbreaking cutting. The food references were abundant and used not only literally, but also to describe feelings, physical attributes and more.
Thankfully, the book wrapped up in an honest way and wasnβt too rushed trying to fit all the pieces together.
Quotes I liked:Β
Sometimes, no matter how hard I tried to keep my hopes down, the popped back up like a turkey timer.β
– βNot for a moment had I allowed myself to wither into sadness. Wouldnβt. Itβs impossible to know when sadness ends. Itβs a string I feared Iβd keep on pulling until I unraveled the carpeting of a million rooms.β
– βFor the rest of his life, he realized, he would have a relationship with something that was what it wasnβt.”
Every day I clean the Winchestersβ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor. I try to ignore how Nina makes a... read more
Good Book Fairy. I loved this book, I couldn’t put it down. I too felt like the book brought me to emotional places I hadn’t even thought of. Since I am adopted this was particularily moving.
Dear My Inspired Table, Thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m so glad this book touched you as it reminds me that a book is worth nothing without its reader, and each reader receives something different from the book! Best, L
Every day I clean the Winchestersβ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor. I try to ignore how Nina makes a... read more
Review:The Measure by Nikki Erlick was a book I waited far too long to read. I just couldnβt stomach the idea that everyone in the world would find out their relative life span. The whole idea of this scared me but when my book club chose to read it, I dug in with enthusiasm.Iβm so glad I did. This book is more about life and how we live it, rather than about dying. Itβs told by a cast of eight characters who are deeply affected by the strings they received. The length of the string parallels the length of your life. All the characters are struggling with their results because even if he or she gets a long string, there will still be people they know will be gone soon.How the world at large handles the strings was so well done. People are switching boxes hoping it could change their destiny. Support groups are offered. Protests occur. The world is in a very different place. Much of this book made me think about the differences between fate and destiny. This story offers many intertwined connections between the characters that makes for a powerful and meaningful ending. Iβm so looking forward to whatβs next from this author. @nikkierlick @williammorrowbooks William Morrow π Would you open a box that told you how long your lifespan is?#themeasure #scifilight#bookreader #bookclubpick #goodbookfairy... See MoreSee Less
goodbookfairy Happy PUB DAY!!! Here are a fewhighlights:π Real Americans by @rrrrrrrachelkhong @aaknopf π The Funeral Cryer by @wenyanwritesHanover Square Press π The Demon of Unrest by @erikxlarson #crownbooksπ Happy Medium by @sarahadlerwrites@berkleyromanceπ The Swans of Harlem by @kvalby @pantheonbooks π Miss Morgan's Book Brigade by @jskesliencharles@berkleypubπ Within Arms Reach by @annnapolitano@thedialpressπ Effie Olsen's Summer Special by @rochBerkley Romanceey Romance π: What book would you bring If you were stuck deserted #pubday#pubweeky#happybpubdayp#newbooks#goodbookfairydbookfairy ... See MoreSee Less
Good Book Fairy. I loved this book, I couldn’t put it down. I too felt like the book brought me to emotional places I hadn’t even thought of. Since I am adopted this was particularily moving.
Dear My Inspired Table,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m so glad this book touched you as it reminds me that a book is worth nothing without its reader, and each reader receives something different from the book!
Best,
L