Review: The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee

The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee

Expected Publication: June 17, 2014

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Format: via publisher

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

With the glass kitchen, Linda Francis Lee has served up a novel that is about the courage it takes to follow your heart and be yourself. A true recipe for life.

Portia Cuthcart never intended to leave Texas. Her dream was to run the Glass Kitchen restaurant her grandmother built decades ago. But after a string of betrayals and the loss of her legacy, Portia is determined to start a new life with her sisters in Manhattan . . . and never cook again. But when she moves into a dilapidated brownstone on the Upper West Side, she meets twelve-year-old Ariel and her widowed father Gabriel, a man with his hands full trying to raise two daughters on his own. Soon, a promise made to her sisters forces Portia back into a world of magical food and swirling emotions, where she must confront everything she has been running from. What seems so simple on the surface is anything but when long-held secrets are revealed, rivalries exposed, and the promise of new love stirs to life like chocolate mixing with cream. The Glass Kitchen is a delicious novel, a tempestuous story of a woman washed up on the shores of Manhattan who discovers that a kitchen—like an island—can be a refuge, if only she has the courage to give in to the pull of love, the power of forgiveness, and accept the complications of what it means to be family.

My Thoughts

*Warning*

Do not read this book while hungry! Scratch that even if you aren’t you will be at some point! This book is a wonderful tale of Portia who after getting divorce and trying to escape the gossip mill in Texas she flees to NYC to be near her sisters. After finding out her husband cheated on her with her best friend she tries to reevaluate her life. Raised by her grandmother Portia has this magic when it comes to food. She sees meals and has no ideal while but she knows she must just cook it for someone will need it. While she was married she suppressed these visions and was the ideal political wife to her husband, now that she is in NYC her visions are so powerful she can’t help but succumb to them.

She soon meets her neighbor Gabriel and his daughters who are recovering from a broken past of their own. As soon as she meets them her visions are off the charts, she soon is drawn to make dishes even though she has given up cooking. She forms a relationship with Ariel on of the daughters and soon one with Gabriel. Although they bump heads at first soon Gabriel and Portia’s chemistry is undeniable. Portia knows she is brought into their lives for a reason. Her meals not only heal them but herself as well.

Gabriel’s past has secrets of his own; he is dealing with being a single father to two teen girls and has no idea what he is doing. On top of that he is dealing with his mother and his younger brother who basically just wants money and will do anything to make Gabriel pay even if it means destroying the family. The secret is one that honestly I didn’t see coming.

One of the stars of this book is indeed the food. Talk about mouthwatering! However the food isn’t just there as simply food. Every ingredient tells a story. Every dish is as important as a character. The smells and taste takes one back to a time and place just like a song can. I love how there are even recipes at the end of the book….awesome!

This book is the perfect summer read. I love the idea of redemption, family, food and most importantly love. The idea of second chances runs although this book and how food brought it all together. This is one touching read that you will be dying for seconds when you’re done.