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The Love Season
Books: CookBooks: Hors D'Oeuvres: Item 5
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The Love Seasonby Elin Hilderbrand
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: Good but no Bistro, June 8, 2006 Reviewer:E. S. Bates (Pennsylvania) - I do love Elin Hilderbrand's books and can never wait for the next to come out, but this book didn't quite live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong, it was a spellbinding story, but a little too depressing. It reminded quite a bit of the Blue Bistro; taking place, through memory, in a popular, exclusive restaurant in Nantucket. The main character is the eccentric chef, Marguerite, who was lured to the island by her lover, Porter, while working in Paris. Marguerite beomes best friends, and a bit obsessed, with Porter's much younger sister, Candace. The story is reminiscent through a 60 year old, lonely and reclusive Marguerite and eyes of the late Candace's 19 year old Daughter, Renata, when Renata visits the island for the first time in years with her new fiancé, Cade. Within the length of a day, both Renta and Marguerite go through channels of emotions that change their lives forever and tell the story of the death of Renata's mother and how Marguerite got to live the life she now lives alone. The two meet for the first time in 15 years to share the story. It's very well written and keeps you wanting more, it's just a little more depressing than the other books by Hilderbrand.
From Publishers Weekly
Hilderbrand's fifth book is a fulfilling tale of familial excavation and self-exploration. Marguerite is a lonely chef on Nantucket Island who hasn't cooked for anyone since she sold her restaurant 14 years ago, following the death of her best friend Candace and her own brief stint in a psychiatric hospital. A quirky, endearingly insecure recluse, Marguerite is startled from her solitude by a late-night phone call from Renata Knox, whose question, "Aunt Daisy?" sends Marguerite scrambling to come to terms with her past. Nineteen-year-old Renata is Candace's daughter and Marguerite's estranged goddaughter, visiting the island with her wealthy fiancé. The novel takes place over the day Marguerite spends preparing a meal to welcome Renata, whose own problems include an overbearing mother-in-law-to-be and an incomplete sense of her own mother. Desperate for nurturing and guidance, Renata turns to Marguerite, the woman who knew her mother best—and whom Renata has been forbidden to see most of her life. The story is crafted as expertly as Marguerite's dishes, seasoned with well-measured flashbacks and convincing details of island life and the restaurant business. It's a refreshing, resonant summertime treat. (June)
Copyright © Reed business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Despite her father's warning, Renata Knox wants to go to Nantucket with her new fiance to meet her godmother, Marguerite, who has been a mystery to her. Finally, she can visit the place where her parents met and fell in love--and where her mother died. Renata also experiences the superficial, upscale world of her fiance's family. Marguerite's solitary life is turned upside down. As the former restaurateur prepares for one of the most important dinners in her life, she reminisces about her flawed past and worries about what to tell the daughter of her beloved friend. Hilderbrand intertwines the separate discoveries of the two women as they examine what is important to them and consider who they want to please and what pleases them. Hilderbrand's sensitive portrayal of a young, motherless woman on a journey of self-discovery, and her guilt-ridden godmother's attempt to find the courage to confront the past, is very moving. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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