"Cathy's Christmas Kitchen" by Tilly Tennant is the December pick for the Gateway Women book club, which focuses on books with childless characters as the focus, or at least does not feature pregnancy/parenting as major plotlines.
Cathy is in her late 30s, unmarried, childless, and now parentless. She's spent the last several years caring for her ill mother, and is now facing her first Christmas without her. Looking for ways to fill this hole in her life, she attends a coffee gathering at a local church hall, bringing with her an assortment of baked goodies made using her late mother's recipes.
(Cathy finds baking "relaxing" and is forever whipping up goodies and sharing them with her friends... it made me hungry, lol -- and it made me want to see some actual recipes!)
Not only does she make a new friend there (Erica), her baking is such a hit that she winds up organizing a cooking club/classes at the church hall. And just as a new romantic interest enters her life, an old one returns...
This is not the sort of book that I typically read a lot of (certainly much lighter fare than some of the political books I've been reading, lol). I found myself slightly irritated by some of Cathy's angst & dithering (a conversation near the end of the book with her ex-boyfriend dragged on WAY too long -- get rid of him, already!! lol). I also found myself wondering just how she was supporting herself, working just part-time at a flower stall. (Mom must have left her a nice inheritance?)
On the other hand, sometimes a nice, easy, "cozy" read is just what you need at the moment. The holiday setting, in a cozy English village, was perfect for December reading. AND (bonus!!) -- this is one of those rare books (especially books about women in their 30s) that's almost completely free of babies, children, pregnancies and mommy concerns. Not only does Cathy not have children, but neither do her friends, Erica & Fleur. Aside from Erica's troubled teenaged niece Tansy (who figures prominently in the plot), children are not really a part of the story, and that was refreshing. The childless women don't dwell on their lack of progeny, but there are a couple of matter-of-fact conversations/observations about not having children that rang true to me.
Lisa, who runs the GW book club, has included an interview the author with her review of the book on her blog.
Baked goodies + holiday ambiance + childless characters = 3 stars on Goodreads.
This was Book #41 read to date in 2020 (Book #2 finished in December), bringing me to 137% of my 2020 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 30 books. I have completed & now exceeded my challenge goal for the year by 11 books, and am (for the moment, anyway...!) 12 books ahead of schedule. :) You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2020 tagged as "2020 books."
Sounds like a festive, easy read free from all pregnancy and parenting plot lines! :) Thanks for including the link to the interview with the author, where this statement from her stood out to me: "Sometimes having children drives a narrative and sometimes having none does the same, but in this book it was simply how things were."
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