This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
The Art of Baking Blind by Sarah Vaughan was published in paperback last week. If you haven’t discovered this delicious tale of friendship, rivalry and exposed secrets, you’re in for a treat, especially with Great British Bake Off fever sweeping the nation.
The book lands us right in the middle of The Search for the New Mrs Eaden, 1960s cookery writer and housewife extraordinaire. Five enthuasiastic amatuer bakers from five very different walks of life are competing to fill her shoes and in between the pastries, biscuits and cakes, there’s more drama than you can shake a rolling pill at.
When Zarina read this heavenly little book she said: “Before I knew anything about the contents of this novel I had already fallen in love. The cover begs to be oohed and aahed over and once I started reading, I discovered the story within was equally beautiful and enthralling. A delicious read which I devoured like a freshly baked, homemade bread. The lush descriptions of the food made them so vivid that I could almost taste them on the tip of my tongue and, for all the sweetness of the sugary decadences, there is also plenty of drama and intrigue to balance it all out.”
There are many reasons to bake: to feed; to create; to impress; to nourish; to define ourselves; and, sometimes, it has to be said, to perfect. But often we bake to fill a hunger that would be better filled by a simple gesture from a dear one. We bake to love and be loved.
In 1966, Kathleen Eaden, cookery writer and wife of a supermarket magnate, published The Art of Baking, her guide to nurturing a family by creating the most exquisite pastries, biscuits and cakes.
Now, five amateur bakers are competing to become the New Mrs Eaden. There's Jenny, facing an empty nest now her family has flown; Claire, who has sacrificed her dreams for her daughter; Mike, trying to parent his two kids after his wife's death; Vicki, who has dropped everything to be at home with her baby boy; and Karen, perfect Karen, who knows what it's like to have nothing and is determined her façade shouldn't slip.As unlikely alliances are forged and secrets rise to the surface, making the choicest choux bun seems the least of the contestants' problems. For they will learn – as Mrs Eaden did before them – that while perfection is possible in the kitchen, it's very much harder in life.
If you’d like to find out more about Sarah Vaughan, you can visit her website, follow her on Twitter or pop along to say hello on Facebook. And stay tuned for a lovely giveaway to celebrate the book’s release later today.