MY REVIEW:
I’ll be perfectly honest. When I first began to read “Stones for Bread” I was very tempted to read just enough to get by with a review because not only did it read a bit slower than I prefer but it also touched on emotional issues that I would rather not think too much about. Fortunately I persisted through to the very end and was happy that I did. Yes, the story moved very slowly but that is a good thing because this book is one to savor.
Liesl is a well developed protagonist who is both easy to identify with but also quite frustrating at times. I was not at all happy with all of her decisions and might have ended the story differently if I were the author. I’m sure everyone is happy that I’m not the author. The actual story of Liesl’s day to day life as the baker/owner of Wild Rise, a bread bakery, moves at a steady pace, mostly detailing her interaction or lack thereof with the people who surround her. Emotionally scarred by events of her childhood, Liesl’s life is somewhat isolated by choice and her social skills are fairly limited. As her story progresses, she is faced with several surprises that force her to take a closer look at herself.
Interspersed within Liesl’s narrative are several recipes and many facts, fables, and details – all related to bread. Some are historical facts, some are details about the art of bread making, others explore beliefs and practices regarding bread over the ages including spiritual references. I came away from “Stones for Bread” with a new appreciation for bread making and feel that I also learned quite a bit in the process as I enjoyed a very intriguing story. I am almost tempted to try a bit of wild yeast bread crafting myself. The fact that I need to avoid bread as much as possible due to health issues is all that prevents my doing so.
This book was provided for review by LitFuse Publicity.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
A solitary artisan. A legacy of bread-baking. And one secret that could collapse her entire identity.
Liesl McNamara’s life can be described in one word: bread. From her earliest memory, her mother and grandmother passed down the mystery of baking and the importance of this deceptively simple food. And now, as the owner of Wild Rise bake house, Liesl spends every day up to her elbows in dough, nourishing and perfecting her craft.
But the simple life she has cultivated is becoming quite complicated. Her head baker brings his troubled grandson into the bakeshop as an apprentice. Her waitress submits her recipes to a popular cable cooking show. And the man who delivers her flour — a single father with strange culinary
habits — seems determined to win Liesl’s affection.
When Wild Rise is featured on television, her quiet existence appears a thing of the past. And then a phone call from a woman claiming to be her half-sister forces Liesl to confront long-hidden secrets in her family’s past. With her precious heritage crumbling around her, the baker must make a choice: allow herself to be buried in detachment and remorse, or take a leap of faith into a new life.
Purchase your copy HERE.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Christa Parrish is the award-winning author of three novels, including the 2009 ECPA Fiction Book of the Year Watch Over Me. When she’s not writing, she’s a homeschool mother of three wonderful children. Married to author and pastor Chris Coppernoll, Christa serves with him as co-leader of their church’s youth ministry as well as serving as a facilitator for a divorce recovery ministry. She is now also slightly obsessed with the art of baking bread.
Learn more about Christa HERE.
