The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

A Novel

By: Aimee Bender

Narrated by: Aimee Bender

Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

The wondrous Aimee Bender conjures the lush and moving story of a girl whose magical gift is really a devastating curse.

On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein, a girl at the periphery of schoolyard games and her distracted parents’ attention, bites into her mother’s homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother’s emotions in the cake. She discovers this gift to her horror, for her mother—her cheerful, good-with-crafts, can-do mother—tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes a peril and a threat to Rose.

The curse her gift has bestowed is the secret knowledge all families keep hidden—her mother’s life outside the home, her father’s detachment, her brother’s clash with the world. Yet as Rose grows up she learns to harness her gift and becomes aware that there are secrets even her taste buds cannot discern.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is a luminous tale about the enormous difficulty of loving someone fully when you know too much about them. It is heartbreaking and funny, wise and sad, and confirms Aimee Bender’s place as “a writer who makes you grateful for the very existence of language” (San Francisco Chronicle).

©2010 Aimee Bender (P)2010 Random House

Critic reviews

"Odd and oddly beautiful....moving"--The Washington Post

"Haunting....Bender's prose delivers electric shocks....rendering the world in fresh, unexpected jolts. Moving, fanciful and gorgeously strange."--People Magazine

"Charming and wistful....[Bender] harness[es] her exquisite, bizarre sensitivity, in this haunting examination."-- The Atlantic

Bad

Possibly the worst narrator ever, just awful! Do not waste your credits/money on this, you will sincerely regret it

5/5

I'm so glad I ignored the reviews on this one! I don't give 5/5 very often, but the book really captured my attention and imagination. I found the pace to be perfect for a story about a supposedly ordinary family, and those little absurd surprises kept me turning the pages (so to speak). I enjoy books that are narrated by the authors; it brings you closer to the intentions of the characters. In this case too, the low key narration left a lot for the listener to fill in.

???? what was it about?

Unlike most listeners, I didn't mind the narrator, but maybe that's because I'm from the UK. But as for the content - I just didn't get it, I didn't get what the brother was doing, I see from other reviews that that became clear in the last 10 mins but even going back to the last 10mins, I still didn't get it, and I couldn't be bothered to go back further. I would be pleased to find the answer to that, as for the rest of it, it just seemed that each family member had strange problems.
Would I recommend it? NO, definitely not. Life is too short to waste 8 hours listening to this!

Miserable

I don't know what was worse, the miserable narration... almost in a monotone, or the story that dragged on and on.... I kept thinking, please end and put me out of my misery! To make it worse... it was a depressing read.... yuck!

Sad

I really wanted to like this book and pushed through to the end though several times I wanted to hit the delete button and be done with it. The story is so slow, and desperately sad. The reader was a perfect match to the story content--cold, irritated, depressed. I usually don't write reviews and I generally like the books I get on audible very much, but I had to write one this time. If someone is interested in this book, I would suggest reading it not listening to it and then only if you are in a very, very good mood and willing to be brought down a notch or too. In a word--Sad.

Great listen

read this book a long time ago and just remembered it. listened to in in two days and it was just as great as I remembered. cool to have Aimee read it, the cadence was what I imagined. I bet my roommate would go wild about the felt sense of it all.

I'm Going to Read the Actual Book

Bad News: The author has the most horrific and irritating voice I've ever heard. It's whiny and monotone. Run, don't walk, away from this audio book.
Good News: The story is intriguing enough where I am going to spend yet more money to purchase the actual book and finish it.

I felt her sadness

At the beginning it sounded a bit monotonous and kind of boring, but the more I listened the more I wanted to know. The story is weird and a bit obscure and it just hooked me.
Her voice is so calm and soothing but the story is entertaining enough to keep going.
I felt her sadness and impotence.
**Edit**
Ive listened to this 3 times now and each time is more sad, every time I discover things that I passed the last time, she puts me in this weird mood of sadness but also thankfulness and appreciation for what I have.
If you find it a bit monotonous maybe try speeding it up a little 1.2 or even 1.3, dont miss this gem just because of her tone.
#tagsgiving #sweepstakes #audible #listeningatwork #mybooks

Silly premise. Boring story. Don't waste your time

Didn't bother to finish. Maybe you can understand why some enjoy this book but it was a waste of a credit..

Worth listening to- a mind bender, so to speak

I usually prefer books that are read by a professional reader. In this case, Aimee Bender did a great job reading her own book. After reading this, I catch myself paying more attention to my food!