Review: The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman | The Candid Cover (2024)

❃ I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. ❃

Review: The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman

Having never read a Viola Shipman novel before, I had no idea that I was going to be transported into the story so easily. The passages and descriptions of the Michigan countryside are both breathtaking and vivid. I really enjoyed learning not only the history of the region, but the climate, and the gorgeous land formations.

❀ Relatable Main Character

Sam is a character that is easily relatable. She is a recently graduated pastry chef that is trying to decide which path to choose in life. Shipman takes Sam on this journey of self-actualization through her family’s recipe box. The recipes are ones that have been handed down from generations of women in Sam’s family. Each chapter in The Recipe Box is based on a recipe and even contains the directions for how to make it. The well-loved recipes are created by Sam throughout the novel and the history of her family helps her to decide her future path. It is such an interesting concept for a novel.

❀ Focuses on Women

This is a story that really focuses on women and the many women that have shaped the orchard that Sam’s family owns. There are flashbacks to Sam’s great-grandmother, her grandmother, and her mother, as they are in different stages of their lives. The recipe box is the constant in each of the women’s lives, as it helps each of them achieve their goals. I really enjoy when a novel has a big family theme that portrays so many different generations.

❀ Beautifully Written

The Recipe Boxby Viola Shipman is a wonderful story that is written beautifully. The theme of self-discovery in the novel is portrayed in a very unique way through the use of recipes and a multi-general cast of characters. I am looking forward to extending my enjoyment of this book further by recreating some of those mouth-watering recipes.

Book Quotes: The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman

Book Beginning:

Starbucks was jammed with those who, like her, rose at dawn to start their day: construction workers, Wall Street traders, emergency room doctors, eager assistants.And strugglingpastry chefs like me,she thought, looking around the coffeehouse.

Friday 56:

The apple blossoms were in full bloom, and the orchard looked as if it had been dusted in pink snow. Every few seconds, a gusty warm wind bellowed down the hillside and into the bay, a roar followed by a brief silence in which another sound would emerge: the hum of bees on the blossoms.

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