Review
`The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake has at its heart an intriguing and poignant comment on the perils of childhood... Bender brilliantly dovetails Rose's condition into a parable of the dangers of knowing too much about people, especially your family... it is fresh and beautifully written.' --The Sunday Times
`Quirky, engaging tale of a family endowed with unlikely gifts, the ties that bind people barely conceal the chasms that divide them.' --Guardian
`A wonderful metaphor for the child's sense of things that are never mentioned, and Bender writes with wit, warmth and insight.' --The Times
`Intense, strange and incredible moving, it captures the magic and the romance of the unknown. With nods to both Chocolat and The Time Traveler's Wife, this is a beautifully written book and one that you will want to talk about long after you have finished reading it. Read it when you need reminding about the power of love.'
--Elle
`Aimee Bender has got that cool, quirky American thing going on. Taking an unlikely premise - a girl who discovers she can taste emotions in food - she transforms it into a lovely, lonesome universal tale.' --marie claire
`As delightful as its title suggests.' --Glamour Must-Read
`A truly unique exploration of turbulent family relationships and a young girl on the cusp of adulthood grappling with grown-up emotions.' --EasyLiving.com
`A lovely book, warm and comforting with moments of sadness and brilliantly written.' --The Bookseller
`The book initially reads like the familiar tale of a cosy, suburban middle-class LA household concealing frustrated lives behind and outwardly-cheery veneer. But by kicking the narrative left with the surrealist twist of Rose's psychic tastebuds it becomes so much more: an unpredictable meeting of modern magic and melancholc realism.' --The List
`Lose yourself in a fantastical gastronomical journey ... This novel explores familial love in an unexpected way, and you'll be hooked from the first taste.' --She
`This emotional and moving tale blew us away with its beauty.'
--Bella
`Ultimate weepy foodie book ... fabulous.' --Red
`A beguiling, offbeat book that reads like a poem.' --Daily Telegraph
`It's a charming, funny, wistful novel, with serious things to say about feelings people hide and the nature of true nourishment.' --Saga
'This is a moving and fantastical tale of the secrets and lies that lurk beneath the surface of a seemingly happy family.' --Prima
Book Description
Product Description
From the Back Cover
On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein, a girl at the periphery of schoolyard games and her distracted parents' attention, bites into her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother's emotions in the slice. She discovers this gift to her horror, for her mother - her cheerful, can-do mother - tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes perilous. Anything can be revealed at any meal.
Rose's gift forces her to confront the secret knowledge all families keep hidden - truths about her mother's life outside the home, her father's strange detachment and her brother's clash with the world. Yet as Rose grows up, she realises there are some secrets that even her taste buds cannot discern.
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is a luminous tale about the heartbreak of loving those whom you know too much about. It is profound and funny, wise and sad, and Aimee Bender's dazzling prose illuminates the strangeness of everyday life.
'Extraordinary'
Time Out New York
