Love & Saffron A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love by Kim Fay

 Book Excerpt:

"In the vein of the classic 84, Charing Cross Road and Meet Me at the Museum, this witty and tender novel follows two women in 1960s America as they discover that food really does connect us all and that friendship and laughter are the best medicine.

When twenty-seven-year-old Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter--as well as a gift of Saffron--to fifty-nine-year-old Imogen Fortier, a life-changing friendship begins. Joan lives in Los Angeles and is just starting out as a writer for the newspaper food pages. Imogen lives on Camano Island outside Seattle, writing a monthly column for a Pacific Northwest magazine. While she can hunt elk and dig for clams, she's never tasted fresh garlic--exotic fare in the Northwest of the sixties. As the two women commune through their letters, they build a closeness that sustains them through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the unexpected in their own lives.
 
Food and a good life—they can't be separated. It is a discovery the women share, not only with each other but with the men in their lives. Because of her correspondence with Joan, Imogen's decades-long marriage blossoms into something new and exciting, and in turn, Joan learns that true love does not always come in the form we expect it to. Into this beautiful, intimate world comes the ultimate test of Joan and Imogen's friendship—a test that summons their unconditional trust in each other.
 
A brief respite from our chaotic world, Love & Saffron is a gem of a novel, a reminder that food and friendship are the antidotes to most any heartache and that human connection will always be worth creating."

Title: Love & Saffron
Author: Kim Fay
Publisher: PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:
"Love & Saffron A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love" by Kim Fay

My Assessment:

'Love and Saffron' was a delightful read told in a penpal form.
We find the setting of this story was from the 1960s [Seattle and Los Angeles] when Joan Bergstrom, a twenty-seven-year-old who was a columnist, and Imogen and fifty-nine-year-old Imogen Fortier, who through fan letters that produced a friendship that became good friends. Who knew that since they both worked for a newspaper and when Joan sent Imogen a packet of Saffron along with a fan letter, a friendship would come from this situation and you will have to pick up "love & Saffron to find out what all this author has in store for the reader.

It was a heartwarming read seeing how these two were able "to share recipes, love of food, pleasures, even curiosities from their richness of life." What a joy it was reading about seeing these two who 'shared affinity and fascination with each other insights and experiences.' Seeing how these two stuck with each other through a little bit of it all, especially when it came to their love of cooking and food.

Even as life went on around them ...from the Cuban missile crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, different attitudes toward people of color which brought out fears and all that brought out lots of reactions of the world as there were lots of changes coming forth and most of all hope for the future.

Be ready for not only a well-written story but also a memorable one about friendship and, oh yes, food.

Thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the excellent read and my leaving my honest opinion from the read.