The #1 Indie Next Pick, in the vein of the classic 84, Charing Cross Road and Meet Me at the Museum, this witty and tender novel follows two women in 1960s America as they discover that food really does connect us all, and that friendship and laughter are the best medicine.
When twenty-seven-year-old Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter–as well as a gift of saffron–to fifty-nine-year-old Imogen Fortier, a life-changing friendship begins. Joan lives in Los Angeles and is just starting out as a writer for the newspaper food pages. Imogen lives on Camano Island outside Seattle, writing a monthly column for a Pacific Northwest magazine, and while she can hunt elk and dig for clams, she’s never tasted fresh garlic–exotic fare in the Northwest of the sixties. As the two women commune through their letters, they build a closeness that sustains them through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the unexpected in their own lives.
Food and a good life–they can’t be separated. It is a discovery the women share, not only with each other, but with the men in their lives. Because of her correspondence with Joan, Imogen’s decades-long marriage blossoms into something new and exciting, and in turn, Joan learns that true love does not always come in the form we expect it to. Into this beautiful, intimate world comes the ultimate test of Joan and Imogen’s friendship–a test that summons their unconditional trust in each other.
A brief respite from our chaotic world, Love & Saffron is a gem of a novel, a reminder that food and friendship are the antidote to most any heartache, and that human connection will always be worth creating.
Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love by Kim Fay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Such a delightful, delicious read. I’d recommend this one for anyone looking for an uplifting and fresh perspective on life and for book clubs. It’s short and sweet which makes for the perfect one-sitting read.
The Story
A look through friendship, life and historical events through an epistolary format. I loved the settings of L.A. to the Pacific Northwest in the 1960s timeframe moving future.
It was fun, at times playful, and refreshing with heavier life aspects that added depth and connection.
The Writing
The epistolary aspect was interesting and I enjoyed each character’s perspective.
The voices were distinguishable and I looked forward to seeing each response. I did think at times some letters would have been a bit long winded for the format and time they would have been written in. I know that handwritten and old-fashioned typewriting typically makes you have more collected thought and foresight into how you word sentences to make each letter, word, sentence, and use of paper and ink count in a way that I felt leaned more rambly than it would have realistically been. Nonetheless context in the story was important so maybe that’s one reason it needed to lean that way.
The recipes and food descriptions were lovely, looking forward to trying them.
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