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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Can You Really Write a Great Novel about Food?

by Chautona Havig · 3 Comments

If the word “book” came up in certain circles, someone would mention it. That’s an understatement. Rather, finding a book recommendation list that didn’t include it would be like changing the name of Mount Rainer to Mount Dryspot. Impossible. Then a friend started having monthly dinners.

This thing was serious.

The Saturday Night Supper ClubThe problem was, the cover intrigued me—the title didn’t. The Saturday Night Supper Club. I could only picture some 1960s housewife trying to up her hostessing skills by making canasta night a bit more “posh.”

Some people went on and on about the detailed descriptions about food. I yawned at the thought.

What can I say? Sometimes a girl is stupid. After all, I wrote an entire book that mostly takes place in a cafe myself!

A few months later, I saw a chance to review an upcoming book. The title intrigued me—Brunch at Bittersweet Cafe. The synopsis grabbed me as well. I zipped off my request for a review copy seconds after I read about it, but I couldn’t help but feel like something felt familiar.

Then it arrived and I saw the subtitle. A Supper Club Novel.

Uh oh.

I mean, this wasn’t just a book about a cafe. This would be a… a… foodie novel! Would I have to read that first one? And most of all…

Can You Really Write a Great Novel about Food? Brunch at Bittersweet Cafe

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.  Additionally, I requested a review copy of this book and chose to review it through the Celebrate Lit blogging program.

Can You Really Write a Great Novel about Food?

Not having read The Saturday Night Supper Club, I bought it and was determined to start this one off with full knowledge. But I didn’t have time. I’d promised to review this by today, so I started reading.

Look, I expected it to be a good book. How could it not? Everyone and I do mean everyone, raved about the last one. I didn’t see a single person state that it was just “okay.” People avoid books for different reasons, not just because they think the book will be bad. I just didn’t think I would be interested.

Yeah. Guess what I’ll be doing today? Yeah. Not working on what I should be. I’ll be huddled up under the covers, reading The Saturday Night Supper Club. Ahem.

Written with an authentic tone in every aspect of the story, Carla Laureano doesn’t just give you a fabulous story, she transports you out of your house and drops you into the Denver, Colorado foodie scene.

I’m no professional, not by a long shot, but I could feel the tension of the bread as it rose, sense the dip in humidity and the need to adjust. Even more than that, Laureano made me experience the difference between baking on a commercial scale and as an artisan.

Then there are the characters.

In Melody, she created a young woman who most of us can relate to more than we think. The insecurities, the boldness, the uncertainty, the confidence—the crazy, mixed up mixture of all of that and more. It’s a beautiful, realistic portrait of someone we all know. Perhaps a friend, maybe a family member, or perhaps some part of ourselves—whoever it is, we recognize and watch her come to life on the pages.

Each of the other characters has equally fine layers that reveal themselves as the story unfolds. You want to root for everyone. And, well, pretty much everyone makes you want to slap them, too—except perhaps Talia. I didn’t ever want to slap her. Maybe because she wasn’t in it long enough?

Just to be clear—in my book, wanting to slap characters is a good thing. It means those characters could walk into your life tomorrow and be lovable people who, like all humans, occasionally do things that irritate the socks off you. It’s winter. I’m all about the socks in winter—nice, soft, fluffy, fuzzy ones. Just in case you were curious.

But this book isn’t all food and floundering people.

There’s also authentic spiritual content. Just as she did with people, Ms. Laureano kneads spiritual truths into her story exactly where it will give the biggest punch. None of the elements were overworked. None fell flat.

Yet, like a perfect loaf of bread, if you look close, it isn’t perfect. One side is a little rounder than the other or perhaps a bubble near the surface left a tiny crater to give it texture and interest. The flawed characters misinterpret, misunderstand, and even misuse Scripture to their individual purposes. Just like your friend at church or your best friend does.

You know, I’ve seen a lot about how this book will make you hungry. People talk about the amazing food and how there aren’t any restaurants like The Bittersweet Cafe anywhere near them.

I kind of agree—and totally disagree.

Because you see, I did get hungry, too. I did. However, I got hungry for a deeper, clearer taste of God’s Word. I ached to see what He said about relationships—us with Him, us with each other. It didn’t end there. I also got hungry for relationships. The misunderstandings, the stepping into and out of each other’s lives and business. Holding people aloof when you’re trying to figure things out—sometimes without realizing you do it.

So me. All of it.

One of the most beautiful bits of the book shows once it’s all done.

You finish reading, put it down, ponder. Brunch at Bittersweet Cafe isn’t even an exciting book. Instead of one dashing scene to the next, it meanders through the lives of the characters—pauses to take a closer glimpse here and there, and then saunters back down the sidewalks to the next stop.

Never once does it feel slow or draggy. I turned each page with eager anticipation for the next, and then I strolled along with the story, nodding when it pointed out something of particular interest—simply reveling in spending time with it.

You know. Like a great date.

When I requested a review copy of Brunch at Bittersweet Cafe, I had no idea of the journey it would take me on. This is more than just a contemporary foodie romance. It blends the best elements of women’s fiction and romantic fiction and folds them gently together so you almost don’t notice the separate and distinct flavors and textures. Yes, there’s a guy meets girl and a happily-ever-after. Technically, that’s romance. But there is also that woman’s journey… learning who she is and what makes her tick.

Here, Laureano shines because each character (mostly women) both learns how the others tick as well as themselves.

So… can you? Can you really write a great novel about food? Certainly. I’ve no doubt about it. But only if you take a lesson from Carla Laureano and make sure it’s also about interesting people on journeys to discover who they are and what the Lord has for their lives.

Tiny caveat to my recommendation:  If you are bothered by knowing that Christian characters are tempted to do what is wrong, and that in the past they’ve chosen that wrong, there are elements that may bother you.  Personally, I thought Laurano did a fabulous job of showing that Christians aren’t immune to temptation and that repentance is possible and necessary.

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Comments

  1. Amelia says

    February 15, 2019 at 7:39 pm

    I’m excited about Brunch at the Bittersweet Café! Thanks for the giveaway!

    Reply
  2. Perrianne Askew says

    February 15, 2019 at 7:13 am

    I really enjoyed The Saturday Night Supper Club, so I am excited about Brunch at the Bittersweet Cafe. I truly enjoyed your description about how the book flows. You do feel like you’re taking a stroll though these peoples lives but the book doesn’t drag. She really has a knack for making you feel like you know these characters in real life.

    Reply
  3. Lila Diller says

    February 15, 2019 at 6:53 am

    I’ve been seeing these covers for ever. The covers always catch my eye, and then I read the blurbs again and think, “Oh, yeah, that one again. Sounds boring.” I then read your review about meandering through characters’ lives, and it sounds even more boring. But it also sounds spiritually beneficial, and that’s more important to me, especially when the last book I read because it looked exciting almost gave me nightmares .There doesn’t seem to be any danger of nightmares with this book, and I love characters above all, so I will now give this one a try. Thanks for the recommendation (and the giveaway)!

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 265: A Chat with Karen Witemeyer
byChautona Havig

Nothing says fairy tale like a sweet western romance by an author like Karen Witemeyer… unless it’s a fairytale retelling set in Texas in the late 19th century, right?  Fairest of Heart takes the familiar “Snow White” and turns it on its head with retired cowboys, a self-absorbed actress, a Texas Ranger, and a sweet girl who knows the true Source of her beauty.  Listen in to see all the genius Easter eggs Witemeyer planted in this book.

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Sometimes All a Girl Needs Is a True Change of Heart

I fell in love with the cover of Karen Witemeyer’s Head Over Heels a few years back (only to learn it’s much older than that, even), and meant to read that book.  I didn’t.  #BecauseIdiot. Well, that’ll be rectified just as soon as I’m done listening to her first book in a trilogy of fairytale retellings. I loaded it up on my Audible app tonight and wheeeeeeee. Here I go! So much for no new books until October. HA! 

Karen talks about her heart for young women today and how they’re taught by every bit of media blasting at them that they need to use their bodies to get what they need or want when the Lord has a better plan. And I can’t guarantee it, but I strongly suspect she does it without preaching. SQUEE!

Fairest of Heart by Karen Witemeyer

Once upon a time in Texas . . .

Beauty has been nothing but a curse to Penelope Snow. When she becomes a personal maid for a famous actress whose troupe is leaving Chicago to tour the West, she hides her figure beneath shapeless dresses and keeps her head down. But she still manages to attract the wrong attention, leaving her prospects in tatters–and her jealous mistress plotting her demise.

After his brother lost his life over a woman, Texas Ranger Titus Kingsley has learned to expect the worst from women and is rarely disappointed. So when a young lady found in suspicious circumstances takes up residence with the seven old drovers living at his grandfather’s ranch, Titus is determined to keep a close eye on her.

With a promotion hanging in the balance, Titus is assigned to investigate a robbery case tied to Penelope’s acting troupe, and all evidence points to Penelope’s guilt. But Titus might just be convinced that the fairest woman of all has a heart as pure as her last name . . . if only he can prove it.

You can learn more about Karen Witemeyer and her books on her WEBSITE. Don’t forget the book is 30% off on BakerBookHouse.com.  

Follow Karen on BookBub and GoodReads.

And don’t forget her Posse Group on Facebook.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

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Episode 265: A Chat with Karen Witemeyer
Episode 265: A Chat with Karen Witemeyer
September 29, 2023
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Episode 261: Chatting with Christian Youth Fiction Author, Candice Yamnitz
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