August 2012: Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness

Moving now to the African continent, we'll read about the story of Nicola Fuller and her journey through the book "Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness" by Alexandra Fuller.

Here's a Book Summary:
In this book Alexandra Fuller returns to Africa and to her unforgettable family. At the heart of this family, and central to the lifeblood of her latest story, is Fuller’s iconically courageous mother, Nicola. Born on the Scottish Isle of Skye to a warlike clan of highlanders and raised in Kenya's perfect equatorial light, Nicola holds dear the values most likely to get you hurt or killed in Africa: loyalty to blood, passion for land, and a holy belief in the restorative power of all animals.

We see Nicola as an irrepressible child in western Kenya, then with the man who fell in love with her, Tim Fuller. The young couple begin their life in a lavender colored honeymoon period, when east Africa lies before them with all the promise of its liquid honeyed light, even as the British empire in which they both once believed wanes. But in short order, an accumulation of mishaps and tragedies bump up against history until the Fullers find themselves in a world they hardly recognize.

A story of survival and war, love and madness, loyalty and forgiveness, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness is an intimate exploration of the author’s family and of the price of being possessed by this uncompromising, fertile, death-dealing land.

We'll be meeting in the Van Ness area at the Quetzal Cafe on Sunday August 19 at 2pm!

Next books to read:
September 2012 - Honor Lost: Love And Death In Modern Day Jordan by Norma Khouri
October 2012 - The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

July 2012 Book: Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton

For the heart of the summer, I thought it would be nice to read a light summer read for a change and go through the travels of cuisine with "Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertant Education of a Reluctant Chef" by Gabrielle Hamilton.

Here's a book summary:
Blood, Bones & Butter follows an unconventional journey through the many kitchens Gabrielle Hamilton has inhabited through the years: the rural kitchen of her childhood, where her adored mother stood over the six-burner with an oily wooden spoon in hand; the kitchens of France, Greece, and Turkey, where she was often fed by complete strangers and learned the essence of hospitality; the soulless catering factories that helped pay the rent; Hamilton’s own kitchen at Prune, with its many unexpected challenges; and the kitchen of her Italian mother-in-law, who serves as the link between Hamilton’s idyllic past and her own future family—the result of a difficult and prickly marriage that nonetheless yields rich and lasting dividends.

Blood, Bones & Butter is an unflinching and lyrical work. Gabrielle Hamilton’s story is told with uncommon honesty, grit, humor, and passion. By turns epic and intimate, it marks the debut of a tremendous literary talent.