I'm a sucker for those novels about women who chuck their careers to open a restaurant, or who go to visit their ailing grandmothers and end up taking over the town bakery, or who start making bread to release anger after a divorce, and end up as successful bakery owners. And when I picked up Vanity Fare by Megan Caldwell after spotting it in a local book shop, it sounded to me like it'd be in that vein. The subtitle is "a novel of lattes, literature, and love." So what's not to like?
As a quick, light read this was okay. I think I was expecting more of a woman's journey of discovery, and what this turned out to be was a bit more of a traditional romance novel. It had its charm, and it was written well.
The plot? Heroine Molly has been left by her husband, is low on funds, and takes a job doing copywriting for a bakery owned by a handsome chef whose plan is to tie the bakery in with the nearby public library. The literature tie-in is mainly that Molly write literature-related description of baked goods ... you know, naming menu items things like The Bun Also Rises. A Room of Ones Scone. Of Mousse and Men. Much Ado About Muffins. And the best? Tart of Darkness.
It was a fun book, in a minor sort of way.
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