Product Description

One Sunday evening, the town of Parcival, USA disappeared. It was Tuesday morning before anyone in the outside world noticed it was gone ... There was something decidedly odd about Quentin C. Coriander. For one thing, no one in Parcival could ever remember seeing him arrive. One day the house was empty, bare as winter trees. Next, there was Quentin on the porch, reading the Parcival Post or doing the crossword. From then on it was usual for townsfolk to nod at Quentin as they passed and to receive a cursory nod in return. It never evolved beyond that. Quentin never encouraged conversation. No one in Parcival much bothered to keep an eye on Quentin. What they didn't know was that he always had his eye on them...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #643449 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 228 pages

Review
Superb satire, the kind of story and writing I have not seen since I last read Orwell's ANIMAL FARM -- girlondemand.blogspot.com

a most unusual and fantastic novel...A captivating mystery with equal moments of serious contemplation and lighthearted fun. -- Midwest Book Review, November 2006

From the Publisher
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW: Miss Alice Merriwether's Long Lost Cakes & Further Inducements to Wonder is a most unusual and fantastic novel about a small, close-knit American town, the inhabitants of which are about to have their lives transformed forever. No one in the town can remember when Quentin Coriander first arrived, and he is not one to engage in excessive conversation. Yet while no one pays much attention to Quentin, he is always watching them - aware of not only their troubles and misfortunes, but also of possibilities beyond the townspeople's comprehension. When inexplicable events begin to occur, and troubled townspeople disappear, some accuse Quentin of murder; only a few suspect the truth might not be that simple. A captivating mystery with equal moments of serious contemplation and lighthearted fun.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
There was always something quite odd about Quentin C. Coriander. For one thing, no one in Parcival could ever remember seeing him arrive. One day the house was empty, bare as winter trees, and the next morning there was Quentin settled comfortably on the porch, reading the Parcival Post or doing the crossword as if he’d been living there for years. From then on, the townsfolk would nod at Quentin as they passed, and receive a cursory nod in return. It never evolved beyond that. Quentin never invited conversation.

The town of Parcival was a hamlet of no importance, noteworthy only for having no fame whatsoever. Of course, the people of Parcival would never settle for that. They would usually point to some obscure event in the Civil War, conveniently forgetting it had been proven erroneous over a hundred years before. Still, as much as the townsfolk wished it otherwise, Parcival was a very ordinary place.

As a town, it was hardly unique. There were thousands of similar settlements all over America, and they fed the big cities their most valuable crop--their children. It was a process that saw the average age of townsfolk gradually increase as young people moved away for an education or more challenging employment. That, too, was far from unusual, but at least Parcival’s ordinariness came on a grand scale.

Quentin, on the other hand, was as far from ordinary as a person can get. He had a shock of red hair with a will of its own that rose from his scalp in determined tufts. He reminded many people of an insect with his long legs and bone-thin arms and elongated face. When he sat hunched in the low cane chair on his porch, with his knees bent up higher than knees had a right to be, and his head poised as if ready to strike at the crossword in his lap, he seemed even more insect-like--and the nickname ‘Mantis’ stuck. On the odd occasions when he’d venture beyond his front porch, people would often huddle together and whisper, though the local youngsters decided very early that Quentin was not a person to make fun of. In their childish way, they sensed something abnormal and kept their distance.

***

Alice Merriwether was a spinster--a condition with which she had never come to terms. Jilted in her late teens, she’d been clumsily rejected by several eligible bachelors since. Now approaching forty, she kept a keen eye on Quentin as a means of getting what she’d wanted for so long.

No one in Parcival would have called Alice a beacon of beauty or glamour, but they would surely have acknowledged her other talents. She had a fine mezzo-soprano voice and sang in the Church of Jesus in America choir most Sundays. She was well read in the field of American poetry, particularly Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath. Her greatest talent, however, was with the culinary arts, creating fine cakes that men might kill for.

The opening skirmish of Alice’s meticulously planned campaign took place on a Monday. She mounted her attack by means of a Trojan horse: a Sunshine-with-Passion Cake of enormous proportions, sculpted in a style that would surely have elicited the envy of Michelangelo. Quentin failed to answer her first knock, but Alice was nothing if not persistent and eventually he opened the door to peer out myopically. Her gift seemed to confuse him: he took it, but instead of inviting her in, he just mumbled a few words that she couldn’t make out, and then abruptly closed the door. Never one for despondency, Alice considered she had just won a minor victory. Coriander had accepted her offering, and there was no disputing how memorable--and addictive--her Sunshine-with-Passion Cakes were.

She began planning the wedding.

Customer Reviews

An Inducement to Wonder
I just spent three days reading this book, and it's unlike anything I've ever read -- yet it has elements of some of the greatest works of literary fiction ever.

It is a wonderful mix of childlike joy and wonder with adult humor and satire -- "gentle satire", the author says in his review here, and I would say that's absolutely correct.

It opens with a dizzying array of characters. The chapters are short, bulleted to give you just that little tantalizing bit to keep you hanging, the way Miss Alice's cakes so tantalize and mesmerize the denizens of Parcivel. It has great suspense -- you don't know till the very end why Quentin Coriander has come to Parcival or what he represents. Just as you start to think you are getting it figured out there is another plot twist, another new character, to nudge you out of your comfort zone, so that you never know entirely where you are being taken, only that you enjoy the ride.

There is a ton that is fun in this book -- the midwest stereotypes, intentional overblown characters and exaggerations that hallmark good satire, and even the character names --"Justin Case", Stephen a.k.a. Jelly Bean, and characters named for foodstuffs and spices (Pumpernickel, Coriander.) There are also some recipes that I'm going to want to try. But by the time you reach the end you realize that there is a method to the madness. There is in fact, like with all good literary fiction, a message in this work that is hopeful, uplifitng and connective in the sense of agelessness. Once you reach the end, it all comes together, the way an entire town that once went lost, returns, and you recognize, clearly, that you have been deftly handled.

All in all this is a wonderful, imaginative work that tells a lot about the recipe for life's success, and makes you love every bit --and bite -- of the tale. Highly recommended.

Barry Aitchison has started his literary career with a BANG! Expertly woven tale ...
Barry Aitchison's debut novel is an amazing book, containing all the elements that make best-sellers: originality, suspense, mystery and humor, wiith a background love story between a pair of average, small-town characters that seem made for each other ... until a mysterious stranger, Quentin C. Coriander, sneaks onto the scene.

The story is set in a small, unremarkable Midwestern town with the unlikely name of Parcival. Odd things begin happening when Coriander arrives, but he minds his own business and remains remote from the citizens ... until Miss Alice Merriwether, the town's favorite spinster, sets her "baker's cap" for him. She woos him with her delicious, famous cakes, and ... OOPS ... Gotta stop there; don't want to give too much of the story away.

The unique story is filled with delightful characters that readers can relate to, characters we will remember long after reading the book. Aitchison has a wonderful way with words and a sly, subltle sense of humor that's a real gift. And he takes his readers on such a tortuous ride we can never guess what's going to happen next.

MISS ALICE MERRIWETHER'S LONG LOST CAKES is an easy-to-follow, well-written story; so reader-friendly, the author makes it look easy. His characters are described so well, they came alive for me. And the ending is a real stunner, a satisfying ending that leaves the door open for a sequel. As for me, I'm screaming for a sequel; can't wait to find out what happens next to these intriguing characters.

With this creative piece of literature, this gifted author has started his career with a bang! This is an "unputdownable" page-turner, so be prepared to lose some sleep. Congratulations, Mr. Aitchison.

(Before buying this book, I read his three short stories on Amazon Shorts, and they're real masterpieces too.)

SIDENOTE: You may have noticed that Amazon has made some changes to its website. If it looks the same to you right now, look out for a new format that will be rolling out gradually in the weeks to come. If you can see the changes, especially the review format, I'd like to know what you think. Please leave me a comment with your opinion.

"Love the new look" or "Hate the new look" comments are perfectly acceptable.

My e-mail address is at top of this review. Thank you for your time."

Exquiste authorship,biting humour.....
It's unusual to find an author whose expert penmanship draws you into a surreal scenario with biting humour that will make you cry with laughter, but prevents you from being able to explain it to your friends, particularly your conservative ones.
Genuinely exquiste authorship,I have rarely found a writer with higher skill.