The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender was one of the best books I've read in a long time. It was the kind of book that I literally could not put down. I ate all my meals one handed, precariously with an unprecidentedly large number of ranch dressing related incidents, so I could hold the book open, I navigated via perepheral vision down the sidewalks with surprising success, and there were a couple of days where I didn't even open my laptop. Lemon Cake (as I have been reffering to it in my head and will continue to do here for the rest of the article) tells the story of a young girl who discovers, unhappily, on her birthday that she can taste the emotions of the people who prepare her food. It is through her chocolate frosted, lemon, birthday cake that she learns of her mother's crippling depression. The story follows her as she grows up, learning so much more about the people around her than she'd like to. Her "gift" or "curse" alienates her from others and reveals, frighteningly, the fragility of her own family.
I loved this book because it was such a unique and interesting concept told by such a striking narrator. The prose is beautiful and all the details just click and make perfect sense. Being an Empath in my own way, I can understand how hard it is for her to be bombarded constantly with the emotions of others but I can only sympathize with the entrapment she must feel being completely unable to escape it. I would highly recomend it to anyone who has an interest in psychology and tales that are slightly morbid.
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (304 pages)
Judgement: Eye Opening (9.5 out of 10)
Hmmmm, that's actually a really interesting premise for a book, and so much talk about food is also good XD
ReplyDeleteEeeeeeee! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! No one else I know has read it, so it feels good to know that my proselytizing has at least gotten to you!
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