This debut novel is a delicious look at what might go on behind closed doors in the lives of American families. Be forewarned: this book should not be read with an empty refrigerator!
The Heroine
Jasmine March is a woman who loves gastronomic delights, and she makes no excuses for it. She cooks with butter, lots of it, and no shame. She loves real food, real cooking, and real enjoyment of meals. Her love of food and cooking is a passion that overshadows everything else in life. She disavows tasteless diet foods, and she makes a personal religion of planning and preparing meals that will satisfy the heart and soul of her family.
The sensual descriptions of the meals Jasmine prepares border on the erotic. The writing makes the aroma and taste of the food almost come off the page. Expect to take a few breaks to eat while reading this book.
The Betrayal
Jasmine’s daughter, an angst-ridden teenager, develops an eating disorder, and refuses to eat anything her mother cooks. Her husband decides to have an affair with a waif thin aspiring actor from his theater school. Confronted with the collapse of her happy family, Jasmine finds sweet revenge in preparing delectable meals. Like Pavlov’s dogs, Jasmine’s husband runs to her side when she is cooking.
Jasmine’s family thinks of her as a mere housewife, downplaying her talents, until she achieves a certain amount of fame and success through her cooking show and cookbooks. Then, eyes are opened and they begin to see her in a new light.
The Revenge
When Jasmine finds out about her husband’s affair, she knows it won’t last. She knows she can bring him back to her heart with her soul-satisfying foods and the sensual delight of culinary heaven. She proves herself a powerful woman, able to work magic with the tools of her kitchen. Yet everything backfires in a black comedy of errors in the final chapter.
The mistress confronts the wife, revealing a few secrets of her own. The daughter finds out her parents are not the people she thought they were. The husband chooses which path to follow at the crossroad of his life. As the béchamel sauce thickens, so does the plot. Jasmine happily cooks though it all, unwittingly becoming a mastermind in a cover-up of a crime.
Full of surprises, wry wit, and crazy coincidences, How to Cook a Tart is a sinfully delicious novel that will leave the reader hungering for more books by this author.
Killham, Nina, How to Cook a Tart, NY, Bloomsbury, 2002
ISBN: 1-58234-304-7
For another book with a mystery and food theme, see my book review of The Girl With No Shadow, by Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat.
Suzanne Pitner - Suzanne Pitner is a teacher and published writer. A member of RWA and YARWA, she writes fiction as Suzanne Lilly.
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