Library Limelights 288

 ~ STREAMLINED NOW WITH TWO REVIEWS PER POST ~

Nancy Mauro. The Sugar Thief. Canada: Random House, 2022.

Disclaimer: The story takes place largely in my hometown, written by a native daughter, with The Persian in a starring role. I couldn’t not read it.

Sibone Rose has built an enormous following on YouTube as a bake show host and her agent Collette is presently negotiating with Netflix for a network show. Sibone’s dream of becoming a pastry chef came true, despite discouragement from her now-alienated family; the chance of greater stardom is irresistible. Volatile Sibone could not have done it on her own without Wanda, the perfect personal assistant who does everything for her. Wanda insists that a trip to reunite with her fractious family will make ideal film footage, just what Netflix wants. Sibone is not thrilled about meeting up with the stepmother who always ignored her, or the father who refused to allow her in the family bakery business. She is stunned to learn on arrival in Thunder Bay that her father had suddenly died.

As the heir of master baker Francis Rose (aka Franchesco Rosetti), Sibone is plunged into a maelstrom of dubious family stories and expectations. In Italy Francis had learned from his mentor, Don Ernesto, to make the secret recipe for the popular pastry called Garibaldi. In Canada it was renamed Persian for a complexity of reasons, becoming their biggest seller, an icon, for the bakery—co-owned by cousin Dante, whose son Enzo is already a baker of distinction. But only Francis knew the complicated recipe for the Persian;* bequeathed to Sibone along with his half of the bakery. And Sibone must try to sort out the mystery of her father’s hasty departure from Italy, the provenance of the secret recipe, the subterfuge of her own early years, and how to handle her valuable inheritance. It doesn’t help that she and Wanda are at loggerheads over the Netflix deal. The word “betrayal” gets tossed around; blackmail pops up.

So, something here for almost everyone. Mauro is inventive not only with plot twisting, her two women are full-fledged creations, as are the supporting players. Self-medicating Sibone is often hilarious, and Wanda is constantly salvaging her irresponsible father. Loyal photographer Paul duly captures the best and worst of Sibone’s chaotic life for PR purposes. Probably more than anyone needs to know about breadmaking operations but one does get the full flavour of today’s social media influencers. Hometown merely gets a few passing waves, as it should, in contrast to the Persian’s fulsome treatment. Cheers for a talented, energetic author.

* (Mauro morphs her Garibaldi-Persian into a pastry scarcely resembling the real thing ~ which is now at least as old as I am and still deservedly adored.)

~ An off of writer ~

Sabine

▪ I haven’t been skinny since I stopped doing coke every waking moment, but what good baker is skinny? (14)

▪ She wasn’t a simple, cruel stepmother, just completely absent. As he was. (69)

▪ In reality, the last time I turned on the oven at home, I may have incinerated the family of mice inside of it. (167)

▪ I want to remind her that I’m her boss, that she—just like Paul―is a gun for hire. (192)

▪ “I will give you four hundred thousand over two years for the bakery your father built with blood and sweat.” (197)

▪ “So, it’s extortion?” (324)

Wanda

▪ Sabine is prone to blow-ups and breakdowns. (3)

▪ This secret recipe business and quirky small-town success story is totally ownable. (18)

▪ I was her writer, her editor and her public voice. If someone was saying that Sabine was not real—relatable―they were saying I wasn’t doing my job. (47)

▪ “Collette is basically an out-of-touch, old-as-fuck alcoholic clinging to Sabine for her last dying breaths. All she does is make dinner reservations and order champagne.” (120)

▪ The mission is always just the next shot, the next set-up, the next post to feed the seemingly endless appetite of our followers. (194)

▪ I scrub proudly through the whole reel, four minutes of Sabine throwing tantrums and bowls, insulting me, shouting at Paul, and storming off the set. (225-6)

▪ I have to take the chance of turning Sabine’s world upside down in order to prevent it from happening to mine. (315)

Collette

▪ “I was watching you at lunch last week. You had three martinis before the food even arrived. I need you to sober the fuck up.” (98)

▪ “You need to sign right the fuck now!” Collette yells through the phone. (222)

▪ “Wanda, I believe this is what you call ‘looking after one’s best interest.’ The operative word being ‘one’.” (223)

▪ “This isn’t a one-off—it’s a series, and you’re not giving off a series vibe.” (317)

Memorial

She looks down at the lasagna but doesn’t even pick up the fork. “When is the funeral?”

There’s a dramatic silence before Stella answers. “There is no funeral.”

“There’s a memorial tomorrow night, Ma. It’s the same thing.”

“The same thing?” Darkness breaks over the woman’s face. “How will the Lord know to come and take Francesco to his eternal rest if there is no funeral? No body to show? No church? You think Gesù Cristo comes looking for him at a memorial service in his living room?”

“Maybe that’s the way he wanted it,” Sabine says quietly. (44)

Karen Cleveland. The New Neighbor. USA: Ballantine Books/Penguin RandomHouse, 2022.

Beth Bradford is one of the author’s preferred protagonists—a woman devoted to her counter-intelligence CIA job. Identifying the spy recruiter dubbed The Neighbor is Beth’s main pursuit; she knows Iran has dangerous plans to infiltrate the CIA communications system. But how? So far she’s been able to stop them. Snatches of international intercepts give her some puzzling hints as to method: Phrases like moving to new cul-de-sac and use the children. Suddenly Beth is removed from her job and demoted to a less critical department. At the same time, with the last kid off to college, she and husband Mike are packed up to move to a new, smaller house. Mike uses the unbelievable timing to announce he’s leaving her. Absorbing these punches, Beth is not letting go of The Neighbor, and takes inordinate interest in Madeline and Josh, the young couple moving into “her” house.

It’s sad to leave the home where the kids were raised ‒ so many memories – where Beth’s was one of four cul-de-sac households that became good friends. Yet the friends and others become aware that Beth is quietly watching her former house while unaware that she suspects Madeline to be the treacherous Neighbor. If only she can prove it to her old boss Dale who had told her to let it go. Without access to the relevant CIA systems, she works at the problem with ingenuity. Digging deeper for proof, she’s caught searching the house, the FBI interferes, the target keeps changing, and the CIA is in big trouble. Colleagues don’t believe her; friends think she’s lost it. Needless to say, the invested reader is kept intensely guessing right up to the scary climax. It’s one of the best suspense thrillers I’ve lived through this year.

Bits

▪ Individuals who agree to work for a foreign intelligence service, sell out their own country—by recruiting more traitors. (25)

▪ “Our relationship is shit, Beth. Don’t act like it’s a surprise.” (43)

▪ I stare at words on the screen, code for nothing you’re allowed to see. They’re not a surprise; I know they removed my accesses, but it stings. (83)

▪ “We neighbors stick together, right?” (146)

▪ And if it’s true, she’s coming after my neighbors. My friends. (151)

▪ “But right now ... Beth, you’re seeing something that isn’t there.” (156)

▪ One stop and too much money later, I’m the proud owner of a mini drone, complete with HD video and live streaming. (237)

▪ “I don’t have classified information. I’m just the guy who keeps the lights on, for God’s sake.” (254)

▪ Someone did this. Threatened me, proving they can get to me, even inside my own home. I’m not backing off. I’m putting an end to this. (281)

▪ “I know you’re up to something,” she says, taking a step toward me. “And I’m going to figure it out.”