I have finally, after all these years, found THE BOOK that suits my taste in every respect. In short, I consider Gourmet Rhapsody to be fiction perfected. Barberry works with words the way a baker works with dough. She lets her main protagonist leaven the story into a delicate, erudite, almost airy state—and then WHUMP!—harshly punches it down with some very non-elegant voices. This takes author courage indeed. This novel reads like an exquisite meal, with subtlety, precision, lack of pretension, and unpredictability combined with a purposeful raison d'etre and a finishing note of thoughtfulness that lingers long in the mind. Try this lovely novel! You may fall in love with reading all over again—as I did. ~ Pegge

Everything about this book is yummy! Gilbert makes you the special friend who listens to the intimate details of her year-long travel sabbatical. (And does this woman have adventures!) She has an uncanny ability to make you feel as if you're the one from whom she takes advice in her tight spots. (Is it her whimsical use of side notes in parentheses that gives us that girlfriend-to-girlfriend coziness?) She confides in us about her divorce. (We sympathize.) To get a fresh start in life she decides to take a world tour. (We rally and cheer.) She then shares the savory particulars of letting herself eat in Italy (m-m-m-m-m), cries to us over learning to meditate in India (a-a-o-o-h-m-m-m), and relates the juicy details of falling in love in Indonesia (a-a-a-a-h-h). Prepare to be engaged, touched, and diverted by this winsome journal of self discovery. (I promise you'll be amused and gratified!) ~ Pegge

Comparing Gilead with its "sequel," Home, we see that Robinson the magician does not need such things as a new plot, new characters or another era for a startling, fresh story. Both give us astonishing perspectives on the tensions of being human. Though the stories have much in common, reading Gilead is not a prerequisite for enjoying Home. The newer book has Glory Broughton's perspective, through which Robinson intrepidly plumbs the interior human landscape, illuminating such features as longing and self-definition. Her conclusive note on one character-Jack, of course-is bracingly fresh: she hints at a bedrock of grace in life that very few of us have imagined might exist. Is the story familiar? Yes, if you've read Gilead. Is the book surprising? You'll be amazed. ~ Pegge