Product Description

Angela Russo finds herself in Maine thanks to a sailing instructor, an impulse, and an idea that in Maine, people live "the way life should be." But reality on Mount Desert Island is not what she expected. Far from everything familiar, Angela begins to rebuild her life from the ground up. Relying on the flair for Italian cooking she inherited from her grandmother, she begins to discover the pleasures and secrets of her new small community—and to connect her heritage to a future she is only beginning to envision.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #63708 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-01
• Released on: 2008-05-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Thirty-three-year-old New Yorker Angela Russo, dissatisfied with a career that amounts to gliding across a smooth plateau of predictability and fed up with abysmal blind dates, responds to an online personal ad written by Rich, a sailing instructor from Mount Desert Island, Maine. Angela begins to fall in love with the idea of Maine life just as much as she finds herself falling for Rich, and when her career suddenly goes up in flames, she moves to Mount Desert Island. Once she arrives, however, she learns that her vision of perfect New England life—and her perfect New England man—is far removed from reality. Rather than return to New York, Angela rents a rundown cottage and begins teaching an impromptu cooking class (based on recipes from her Italian grandmother). She befriends an eclectic handful of locals and carves out a new identity for herself. Initially, this tale of a lovelorn city girl out of her element feels like another foray into well-covered territory. But Kline (Desire Lines; Sweet Water) has a perfect sense of character and timing, and her vivid digressions on food (recipes are included) add sugar and spice to what could have been a stale premise. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Angela Russo, a 33-year-old event planner in New York City, has a job she finds monotonous, a lackluster love life, and a best friend who suggests trying an online dating service. Angela signs up and, on a whim, extends the site's geography search to include Maine, picturing herself in a cozy, rustic cottage by the shore. Before the inveterate Italian cook can say cacciatore, she's met her Maine man—the handsome sailing instructor Richard Saunders. He sends her a flurry of haikus and flirtatious e-mails, and after a professional disaster befalls her, Angela finds herself driving up the coast to explore a new life with him. When she arrives in Maine, however, it is not the picture-perfect storybook scene she anticipated. But with her love of cooking and dreams of a cottage by the sea as guiding lights, Angela learns to live life and achieve success on her own terms. Boyle, Katherine

Review
"A book about love and disappointment and risk and risotto, utterly appealing on every level." -- Lauren Fox, author of Still Life with Husband

"A story about the way life really can be, with a little bit of luck and just the right seasoning." -- Dani Shapiro

"An unassumingly beautiful story of human relationships and self-discovery...the ideal page-turning light read, with a tremendous payoff." -- People

"Kline has a perfect sense of character and timing." -- Publishers Weekly

"[Christina Baker Kline] is not only a deft and snappy writer, but a true cartographer of the human heart." -- Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean and Still Summer

Customer Reviews

Deep down guffaws and road map for possibilities
Reading about Angela's escape to Maine brought upon one of those deep from the bottom of my stomach rising to my lips laughs! This "Jersey Girl" escapes to Maine, unexpected love and an initially scary but very comfortable "wood-stove" bearing cottage! This is what I needed to read about: possibility, new beginnings and the purest, most unadulterated way to cook fine Italian food. Grab the paperback for a great beach read, or as a road map to your own escape.

Loved it!
I loved this book. Please bring us a sequel! The characters are great. I laughed out loud so many times, and unfortunately related a bit too much. I loved how the author incorporated recipes into the narrative. Very well done.

Not enough conflict
Kline starts off strong, but ultimately the lack of real conflict makes for a dull, not very compelling read. Angela Russo's misguided quest for love coupled with her catastrophic work blunder initially draw the reader in. However, once Angela reaches the island, things fall into place a little too easily. The only conflict I could see was the slight discomfort in Angela's own mind about the drastic changes she's made. Her family disapproves of her decisions but are grudgingly supportive. When she's called home for a family emergency, I thought, finally the conflict would come. But it still doesn't materialize. Kline's situations lend themselves to drama and discord, if she were only to utilize them.

The supporting characters also do not live up to their potential. When Flynn is introduced, he has a fresh, original voice. Midway through the novel, though, he morphs into the stereotypical crotchety gay sidekick. Kline misses an opportunity to add interest and depth by refusing to explore Flynn's relationship with Lance and instead resorting to a banter-fest between these two ex-lovers.

The revelation of the tragic pasts of two minor characters seem to be little more than an attempt to add much-needed drama. But these characters and their secrets aren't important to the plot. The manner in which these secrets are revealed is anti-climatic. All in all, the reader wonders why the author is wasting her time on irrelevant subplots instead of fully developing the main storyline.