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    Simply From Scratch
    Simply From Scratch
    Simply From Scratch
    Audiobook10 hours

    Simply From Scratch

    Written by Alicia Bessette

    Narrated by Jodi Dick, Rich Orlow and Andrew Garman

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Debut author Alicia Bessette gently blends the lives of two characters to create a sure-to-please recipe of tender insights. When Rose-Ellen's husband dies, she is devastated. Her husband loved cooking, so now she refuses to do so-until she hears about a baking contest sponsored by celebrity chef Polly Pinch. In another part of the duplex where Rose-Ellen lives, nine-year-old Ingrid Knox is convinced that Polly Pinch is the mother she's never met. When chance brings Ingrid and Rose-Ellen together, they form a friendship that changes their lives.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJan 4, 2011
    ISBN9781449843373
    Simply From Scratch

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    Reviews for Simply From Scratch

    3.5/5

    25 ratings7 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      An aching look at living on the "what if" side of life. I found myself wishing I could help and loving all of the characters. Sometimes sad, but eventually an affirmation of life.
    • 5/5
      Alicia Bessette's debut marries a big social issue with an intimate story of mourning. From the opening page there's a sad edge to the humor found in Zell's narration that neatly highlights both the setting (a wintery Massachusetts's town) and the tenuous bonds between characters that once felt united forever. The relationship between Zell and Ingrid gives the story its best, most emotionally profound moments -- moreso than the romantic moments between Zell and Ingrid's determined but struggling single-dad. I assume Bessette understands that a novel about recovering from the loss of a husband one loves completely would be made trite by a storyline that revolved solely around a love interest. More importantly, though, this is not a book about one connection but many connections -- from the bonds of local townspeople to the unexpected links between people brought together through tragedies big (Katrina) and small (the death of a husband that everyone loved).

      I read this book in just two sittings, propelled forward by the voice and curiosity as to how things would work out (hoping it would not be a neat, overly sweet finish -- the kind I'm usually not satisfied by when there's a major social crisis involved). As it turns out, I was not disappointed, because Simply From Scratch, despite all the things fiction can 'get away' with, does not pretend to be about a perfect world with perfect people; instead it's a book with the invisible, difficult to vanquish villains of pain and loss. Ultimately, the Katrina backstory involving Zell's husband (whose death is directly related to his time in New Orleans) fits perfectly in terms of tone -- the details of the Katrina aftermath stand on their own and also work as a metaphor for Zell's own life disaster -- how she will have to save what she can from the rubble.

      While this can be a difficult line to walk, Bessette doesn't leave the reader thinking that Katrina is a convenient contemporary issue that serves her characters. She avoids insulting the survivors of that real tragedy by celebrating survival and community in both storylines. It's a compelling use of the real life moment. In fact, I think the author would be more than capable of delving into Katrina more directly in a future book.
    • 2/5
      A really poor excuse for a "chick lit" book. It read like it was written for the secondary school market, and not an adult fiction.So, Zell (we never find out why she is called that) is a medical illustrator who recently lost her beloved when he travelled with a local church mission to re-build New Orleans (he is a photographer with the local paper). Freak accident happens, and he dies. Zell has never gotten over this and cannot get past her grief, even though the small community is filled with friends since her childhood.She hasn't used her oven in over a year (since Nick died) but decides to enter a baking competition to win money to donate to the New Orleans effort. While heating the oven, her kitchen catches on fire as Nick left a present there to give to her. A woman who never cooks, decides to enter a cooking contest??? I think you can tell where this is going. Slightly transparent. Oh, and new neighbors move in next door....can you guess what will happen?Won't even try Alicia's next attempt. Too predicable and boring.
    • 4/5
      Ultimately, I was not ready for this book to end. If you are looking for a fabulous combination between easy to read, relatively heavy at times, and truly humorous, please pick up Simply from Scratch. Hopefully you will enjoy it like I did! Can't wait to see more from this debut author in the future.See full review at windowseatreader.blogspot.com!
    • 4/5
      Rose Ellen Carmichael (aka: Zell) is still grieving the loss of her husband nearly a year and a half after a tragic accident on a charity mission to New Orleans took his life. She wears his camouflage apron and speaks “pirate” to their aging greyhound Ahab – all as a way to comfort herself. She avoids the attic where her husband’s camera equipment only reminds her of all she has lost, and cuts off her contact with long-time friends and relatives.But, one day, her neighbor’s Polly Pinch cooking magazine accidentally ends up in Zell’s mailbox. This unexpected, minor event leads her to a baking contest and an unforgettable relationship with her neighbor’s nine year old daughter Ingrid (who is grieving the absence of her mother). Simply from Scratch is about Zell’s journey through grief, the importance of friendships, and the long slow process of moving forward after loss.Alicia Bessette’s first novel engaged me. Ingrid is a kid whose precocious personality grabs the reader right from the start. Ahab, the dog, was also a favorite character…and I could definitely relate to the magical intervention a dog brings when a person is hurting. I don’t want to spoil the book by giving away any plot points, but I will say that I was not totally satisfied with how Bessette handles Ahab’s character in the latter pages of the book. Despite that, I found Simply from Scratch a sweet novel that made me smile, but also had me wiping away tears.Bessette handles a large cast of characters deftly. Besides Zell, Ingrid and Ahab there is: Garrett (Ingrid’s hunky father), EJ (Nick’s best friend who witnessed his demise), France (a woman cop who is an old pal of Zell’s from high school), Trudy (the chain saw weilding ex-home economics teacher) and Father Chet (who pops in and out and is the origin of the novel’s over arching theme “We are all connected.”). The book is told from the alternating viewpoints of Zell, and EJ and is interspersed with emails from the departed Nick, which allows the reader to examine the story from more than one perspective. Bessette also treats the reader to flashbacks in order to gain a sense of the relationships impacted by Nick’s death.Overall, I found Simply from Scratch to be a quick, enjoyable read. Recommended for readers who enjoy women’s fiction that explores grief, loss, and recovery.
    • 3/5
      Simply From Scratch is a sweet, easy-reading book about a woman, Rose Ellen, whose husband dies in the aftermath of Katrina. She sinks into a deep depression until a little girl and her dad move into the other side of her duplex. Enter Ingrid, an irresistible little girl obsessed with a tv cooking show, convinced that the host, Polly Pinch, is her long, lost mother. Together Rose Ellen and Ingrid help each other find their way after their losses.This is a cute book with a sweet, simple message. The characters are fun and quirky, if mostly larger than life. The theme of grief is an oft explored one, but I do appreciate books, like this one, that show the irregular and unpredictable path grief usually takes. All-in-all and enjoyable read and I'll be sure to check out Alicia Bessette's next one.
    • 3/5
      First, let’s accentuate the positive. The chronology of Simply from Scratch really drives it. Certain elements of the plot are left mysterious, and you really do want to know how it ends. I was completely unsure about what Zell’s last present would be, whose Ingrid’s mother would be, and how Nick was killed. I think these mysteries made this book rise above the normal “chick lit” fare and made it more literary.Simply from Scratch also got me when Zell remembered how life used to be. Bessette had the excellent idea to give Nick, the dead husband, a voice. He is seen throughtout the novel in past emails to Zell. I felt for Zell the most in the emails and “memory smacks” that she relived along the way. I could tell that she really lost something.Now, her “widow style”-that I did have some issues with. For example, her “widow style” includes speaking to her dog in pirate-ese. A This language problem continued when Zell referred to her old home-ec teacher. The name was mentioned so much that I grew bored.Simply from Scratch is the debut novel of Alicia Bessette, and I am hoping to see more things from her in the future. While it wasn’t my favorite book, I did enjoy it, and I hope that the features of Simply that I didn’t love can be ironed out in her next work.