THE SCHOOL OF ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS

TITLE: THE SCHOOL OF ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS
AUTHOR: ERICA BAUERMEISTER
Pages: 240
Date: 24/03/2010
Grade: 4.5
Library

Lillian has had a special relationship with food and cooking since she was a little girl. She knows that the right ingredients, prepared in the right way can effect people in surprising ways.
Eight people meet in her restaurant once a month on Mondays for a cooking class. But from this class they walk away with far more than new cooking skills. All of the find what they need most in their lives at that moment in time, even if they didn't know they needed anything; a rediscovery of who they are, a new love, the strenght and self-believe to walk away from a bad relationship and the strenght to go on after a devastating loss, among other things.
This is a sweet story, clearly written by someone with a deep love for both food and people.
The way in which the ingredients and their preparation is described turns them into extra characters in the story, influencing the lives of those around them.
However, for me this book was too short, the details of the character's lives, their issues and the resolution thereoff too supervisual.
Normally, I'd say that it's a good thing when a book leaves me wanting more by the time I get to the last page. I usually enjoy fantasizing about what might happen next to the characters. In this case though, it wasn't so much the characters future I wanted to know more about, but rather their background. And that information should have been in the book.
Yes, this was a sweet story and a very comforting read. There just wasn't enough of it to completely satisfy me.