Cherries in Winter: My Family's Recipe for Hope in Hard Times Book

I found this book by mistake. I was at B&N searching through the biography/memoir section. I had found a book called "Lunch in Paris" or something similar. The reviews on the cover touted that if you adored Eat, Pray, Love (which I've never read) and Julie & Julia (which I've only seen the movie), you would like this book. I found myself hemming and hawing about it until, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cherries in Winter .

Having just finished graduate school and somewhat desperate for an ounce of hope which is not currently provided by two part-time contract jobs that expire at the end of May, I decided to take a leap of faith on this little book I'd never heard of. I'm glad I did.

Colon's writing style nods to her experience working in magazines. It's quick, to the point, full of just enough color, and then moves on. There are no long laboring paragraphs or chapters that weigh down the overall narrative.

I find it hard to label this a "food book." Yes, there are recipes in each chapter and, yes, most of the stories surround food preparation and/or consumption, but that's really just the background - the pretty set pieces that would be noticeable if gone, but aren't the star of the show. This is a "family history book," and a delightful one at that. I think the member of Suzan's family tree I love the most is her grandmother, Matilda. Matilda's strength of spirit radiates from every page -- she is the hope Suzan describes in the title, and the hope I was looking for when I picked up this book.