Review: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

I usually don't read stories written from the perspective of young girls for the same reason I avoid "lifestyle" television programming - I tend to find both overly feminized and sappy. But something about the synopsis for this book struck me, and I decided to take a chance. I read a book written from the perspective of a young boy a few years ago, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, and it was unexpectedly wonderful. A lot of the enjoyment came from the fact that the boy was obsessive compulsive, and therefore quite different from most child narrators. The narrator of this book, Rose, is different from most children because she has a fanciful ability - to read the hidden emotions of whomever cooks the food she eats. I thought the idea sounded clever and offered a lot of narrative possibilities, so I snagged a copy a few weeks ago and finally read it last night in its entirety.

I definitely enjoyed the story, and felt that it built upon itself well. I was never overly emotional at any point up until the very end, which allowed me to enjoy the story without any distraction, and I absolutely adored the writing style and narrative voice. There was just the right amount of sadness mixed into the story, enough to make it believable without becoming cliche. The primary focus of Rose's ability is on her mother since she prepares the family meals and children's lunches. At first she doesn't understand why the food tastes so terrible, why it feels empty. Discovering the nature of her talent leaves Rose with many questions about why her mother's interior emotions are so different from her exterior. The struggle to understand adult emotions as a girl is overwhelming to Rose, and she faces each meal with dread - both for the tastes of the food and the experience of her mother's sadness. I found this to be an interesting way to tell a coming of age story - learning about the world through exposure to the dark emotions people hide behind happy facades. Rose is not a traditionally bright child in the way her brother is constantly hailed as being gifted, but she comes to understand the world far ahead of the curve, and is a prodigy in her own way. Her perceptions are simultaneously childlike and astute. What she does not yet understand about the world is endearing and sad, as are truths she uncovers at too young an age.

I think my favorite part of the book is how Rose's own emotional development is stunted by her gift. Rose shrinks from her gift throughout her childhood, eating snacks and processed foods, and avoiding her mother's cooking at all costs trying to avoid the unpleasant emotions contained within her meals. To my mind she does everything she can to hide from these emotions, and this aversion affects her own emotional development. When she finally eats her own meal as a young woman, she is shocked to discover how empty she feels. She tastes like the factory food she loved as a child - without any emotion, good or bad. I feel like this is her big coming of age moment. She has finally overcome her fear and faces herself down with a steady gaze. She doesn't like what she sees, and instead of trying to mask her unhappiness as her mother had done for so many years, she confronts herself head on. She wants her inside emotions to match her outside, she wants to be whole and be able to cook and live honestly, without the hollowness of deception. As the character of George says quite early on, her curse is also a terrific gift that could be grown into, and is.

I enjoyed Rose's mother and father as well, and loved George, though he is perhaps a bit unrealistically kind and wonderful. Rose's brother, however, is a mystery to me. At first he played as a contrast to Rose, and I enjoyed their hollow suburban family dynamic - it felt both bizarre and real at the same time, and Bender's prose style really brought the entire family to life. But towards the end I was absolutely confused about Joseph's character and his purpose in the story. Rose's father's surprise reveal was unexpected and welcome - seeing those two grow closer slowly over time was a real pleasure. The scene where she tells him of her skill might be my favorite from the entire book, it played out with real tragicomic shine. And then there is her brother - I just cannot make any sense of his bizarre and senseless final appearances. Everything else about the book holds together and tells a warm yet not overly sweet story. Minus the strange ending parts with Joseph, it's a great story. I only wish the plot device was put to further use - it's wonderful to see Rose grow up with this gift of seeing people's hidden emotions, and learning to get by seeing and knowing things she shouldn't. But there is a lot more potential that was not explored, and I feel in the end the story stops short and doesn't deliver in this regard.