How To Bake A Chocolate Soufflé by Carly Ellen KramerMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
There are three main characters in this interesting take on aspirational life in the US. Annie, Audrey and Madeleine, who begin their relationship as fellow students at college, all have high expectations when they leave. They find that life has a different plan for each of them and the novel is about how the twists and turns they must endure can produce such different outcomes. My particular favourite was Madeleine, who becomes a concert pianist. Her story includes references to various composers and their music which I found interesting.
How to Bake a Chocolate Soufflé is often poignant and amusing and I found some of the situations very realistic and engaging. Even though it switches between characters from chapter to chapter I was able to follow each of their tales - most of the time. But sometimes I did become confused about which one I was reading.
The title and the idea of linking the tales through food, its preparation, recipes and meal time consuming is probably interesting and intriguing to many readers. Unfortunately it left me cold and I found those bits quite boring and skipped rapidly through them.
This is a very well written book and Ms Kramer deserves much praise for her powers of description and imaginative use of dialogue to create a human interest story which I quite enjoyed. Apart from Madeline’s tale I also found the overbearing mother-in-law sections quite amusing. It is a book which, under normal circumstances, I would avoid. However, it had excellent use of language in its narrative and dialogue and engaged my attention throughout.
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