A review by whitmc
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
5.0
Oh gosh. This book is so good. And not at all what I expected after reading the back, the first chapter, and even after meeting the author and listening to him describe the book and read the first chapter.
"It's the story of a woman and her mother" is what the author said. And the story is told through the stories of other people; the story is not told by other people, but through their lives. Which means you get to know a lot of people along the way.
And there's food. People may jump to say it's a book about a woman chef, but the food is the backdrop for the stories. A great backdrop that is used to highlight and give shape to Eva's story.
You know how when you read a book series, and each book in the series is about another character that was a minor person in the earlier book, and suddenly you learn all about them, but still get glimpses of your favorite people from the previous books in the series? The chapters in this book feel like that. And it's done in a way that puts you on high alert as the book progresses.
So well done. I can't wait for Stradal's next book.
"It's the story of a woman and her mother" is what the author said. And the story is told through the stories of other people; the story is not told by other people, but through their lives. Which means you get to know a lot of people along the way.
And there's food. People may jump to say it's a book about a woman chef, but the food is the backdrop for the stories. A great backdrop that is used to highlight and give shape to Eva's story.
You know how when you read a book series, and each book in the series is about another character that was a minor person in the earlier book, and suddenly you learn all about them, but still get glimpses of your favorite people from the previous books in the series? The chapters in this book feel like that. And it's done in a way that puts you on high alert as the book progresses.
So well done. I can't wait for Stradal's next book.