OK, I feel like a sap for loving this so much, but I confess I did. And goodness, I have to give props for a book so moving it made me cry--more than once. I give you fair warning. This is friendship cake indeed. Light and sweet enough to carry a label cautioning you about cavities and diabetic shock. A novel about five women: a young pastor of a Christian church in North Carolina and four of her elderly parishioners in a graying congregation. We get to know each in turn in the five introductory chapters in their own voices, although the rest of the novel is third person. Each chapter begins with a recipe, as each is part of a women's society committee in the church putting together a cookbook.We first meet Margaret Peele, and her strong folksy voice drew me right in. A widow, Margaret is the sensible center of the church fellowship. Childless herself, young people are drawn to her willingness to listen and help. Louise Fisher is the woman who dares speaks out on those things others would ignore. Never married, she's a woman whose heart has long been given to another woman, her best friend of decades who is dying of Alzheimers. Beatrice Newgarden, a widow with three grown children, is a meddlesome busybody--but someone who at the core has a good heart, and initiates the cookbook project because she hopes it can bind them all together--as friends. Jessie Jenkins is the one black member of the otherwise "all-white" church. A mother and grandmother long separated from the husband who abandoned her years ago. Their pastor Reverend Charlotte Stewart is new to the church. She's straight out of seminary and well aware the only reason she was hired is because the church can't afford to pay what a male preacher would demand. She was drawn into a Methodist church as a child because she as the "daughter of an alcoholic... longed for an hour without surprises."I read this book because it was recommended on "The Ultimate Reading List" in the "Inspirational Fiction" section, which listed Christian Fiction. I'm not a believer, but that doesn't mean I didn't feel I couldn't learn or be moved by those of faith--I love CS Lewis, so I decided to give the list a shot. Five books listed were available in neighborhood book stores, including this one, and those were the ones I tried. I have to tell you, the others didn't put forth a form of Christianity I found the least admirable. Rather those books' worldview came across as cramped, narrow-minded, even bigoted. I have a feeling the other "Christian Fiction" authors would not like this book or Lynne Hinton, herself a Christian pastor. In fact several of them have pastors as characters resembling her Charlotte as their villains. I'm not claiming this as great literature. But I'm happy to be in the company of Maya Angelou, who said she'd welcome Hinton as a friend, and "welcome an invitation to sit down at her table"--because the vision she presents here, particularly in contrast to those other books, comes across as compassionate and wise.
Many narrating charactersA poignant story of a handful of women who meet regularly to discuss a cookbook they're putting together, gathering recipes from the church members, young and old alike. We meet Louise who has never been married and is taking care of a long-time friend with Alzheimer's. Louise is not afraid to speak her mind, upsetting people along the way.Margaret is widowed. She and her late husband Luther never had children. The young women in the community go to her for advice.Beatrice is a beautician at the local funeral home. She's widowed and the president of the Women's Guild. Jessie, being black, started going to Hope Springs, an all-white church on a dare. Her divorced daughter lives at home with her 16-year old son Wallace. Even though Jessie's husband left her years ago, they're not officially divorced. Charlotte is the pastor of Hope Springs. Her mother whom she refers to by her first name, Joyce, is a recovering alcoholic. Her parents are divorced; Her father remarried. Her sister Serena died (suicide?). Charlotte has never been married.I loved this line. After Louise shared her heart with Margaret about taking care of her friend with Alzheimer's and tells her "...I'm doing what love does." Margaret responds: "Then I will help you, Lou. I will love her too."
What do You think about Friendship Cake (2009)?
Readers who enjoy the gentleness of Sparks' stories, the small towns with closely knit families and friends involved in day-to-day dramas over the heart-tugging plots might enjoy Friendship Cake, the first in a trilogy, by Lynne Hinton. In Hope Springs, North Carolina, five women come together to publish a church cookbook. While collecting recipes they will become better friends as they learn each other's fears and weaknesses and help each other through them. Full of folksy spirituality and funny tender moments, Friendship Cake might elicit the kind of reader tears that come through laughter.
—Dundee Library
I set out to read The Friendship Cake after learning that The Christmas Cake, a book I won and read earlier in the month, was actually book four in the Hope Springs series. I wanted to know what started these women on their journey together as friends. The Friendship Cake was another easy read, yet also lightly touched with tougher topics like homosexuality, Alzheimer's, teenage pregnancy, the death of a child, race issues, and marital problems. Lynne Hinton's writing itself is average, but she also says some very poignant things along the way and weaves a solid tale about friendship. I have enjoyed reading about Margaret, Charlotte, Jessie, Beatrice, and Louise and I will pick up Hope Springs and Forever Friends to continue on with their stories and lives.
—Melissa
Lynne Hinton's "Friendship Cake" is inoffensive, and sappy. There's nothing wrong with that, for sure. It was a little too soap opera-ish for me - there were non stop tragedies and crying scenes that seems excessive, when I look back at it. Could this be a Southern gothic thing that I am not getting? Even though there is an undercurrent of a religious theme, it explores a (tame) same sex relationship, which I kind of appreciated. I didn't dislike the book, but I wasn't jumping and up and down when I was reading it either. I can't say I will be seeking the rest of the books in the series, though.http://luhathoughts.blogspot.com/2013...
—Leonel
