The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.  Isn't that a great title?  And what a great premise: a girl who can taste the feelings of the chef!  I don't know if the author also wrote the book jacket, but it's great:

She discovers this gift to her horror, for her mother- her cheerful, good-with-crafts, can-do mother- tastes of despair and desperation.  Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes a peril and a threat to Rose.  Anything can be revealed at any meal.  She can't eat her brother Joseph's toast; a cookie at the local bakery is laced with rage; grape jelly is packed with acidic resentment.

Here are some lines from the actual text that I LOVED...

And oh. I'd tasted that turkey sandwich before. The whole thing was just a sonata of love- the lettuce leaf, the organic tomato grown on a happy farm, even the factory mayonnaise took on such a delicacy of feeling it seemed like an exquisite violin solo. 

And this that I shared already:
...he loved her the way a bird-watcher's heart leaps when he hears the call of the roseate spoonbill, a fluffy pink wader, calling its lilting coo-coo from the mangroves.

One more:
Kissing George was a little like rolling in caramel after spending years surviving off rice sticks.

Despite these excellent sentences and paragraphs, unfortunately, this book's plot is sorely lacking.  There is no ending. There is a problem: her brother disappears.  It is not anywhere near resolved.  The character of her father has so much potential and could have been so rich. But... it wasn't.

If the author were in my fourth grade class, here is what I would say:
- Your descriptions are excellent, I especially loved these parts (see above) of the bird, the sandwich, and the kiss.
- Your writing would be better if you wrote a LOT more about her brother and what his experience is.  If you don't want to, your writing would be better if you got rid of him altogether in this story and maybe save your great ideas to make a whole new story with him as the main character.
- I love the parts about the grandfather, but it would be better if he replaced the grandmother totally and the main character actually got to meet him.
- Your writing would also be better if you wrote more about her father and what would actually happen if he set foot in a hospital. That would be exciting.
- If you don't want to develop more events, you should take out the best parts of this book and turn it into a poetry book because some of the lines are so lovely and shouldn't be wasted.

Folks, I think I might be ready to get back to work...

Thank you, Two Birds, for helping me work on wearing 100% of my clothes.  I haven't worn this dress in years!

Happy Monday, everyone! 

Come back tomorrow to see all the great submissions for the Georgia O'Keeffe From the Plains II inspiration!  

If you'd like to participate I'm accepting photos until 8pm Pacific Standard Time!

Daily Details:
- weather: sunny, too hot for me
- sandals, old, cost about $100 worn about 7 times, approximate current cost per wear (accpw) $14
- dress, old, accpw $60
- arm candy: watch, gift, AE, Gap, mostly gifted charm bracelet
- ethical ensemble evaluation: A-