Stones for Bread

Like a loaf of artisanal bread fresh from the oven, Parrish’s adult coming-of-age tale of love and forgiveness set in present-day Vermont is complex and rich with spiritual nourishment, fragrant with the author’s passion for the subject, and yet “a little too dense.” Liesl McNamara is a woman whose life is devoted to bread and her bakery, Wild Rise, far from her tragic past. Until a new flour delivery man, Seamus, and his daughter, Cecelia, drift into her life, she is content with her modest lot. Their arrival, however, opens her eyes to the possibilities of family and change—especially when Liesl is invited to compete in a televised baking competition. As complicated as the recipe for a yeasted sticky bun, Liesl’s tale alternately confuses and delights with past-tense flashbacks to her youth and educational lessons on bread and religion peppering the present-tense narrative. Detailed recipes for novices and master bakers alike round out this challenging, yet satisfying, creation. Agent: William Jensen, William K. Jensen Literary Agency. (Nov.)