A Table by the Window by Hilary Lodge

Reviewed by Martha Artyomenko

About the Book: (From the back cover)
The youngest heir to a French-Italian restaurant dynasty, food writer Juliette D’Alisa has spent her life negotiating her skill with words and her restaurant aspirations. When her brother Nico offers her a chance to open a restaurant together, she feels torn—does she really have what it takes? Should she risk leaving her journalism career?
After the death of her grandmother, Juliette discovers an antique photograph of a man who looks strikingly like her brother. As the truth behind the picture reveals romance and dark secrets, Juliette struggles to keep the mystery away from her nosy family until she can uncover the whole story.
Inspired by her grandmother’s evolving story, Juliette resolves to explore the world of online dating. To her surprise, she finds a kindred spirit in Neil McLaren, a handsome immunologist based in Memphis, Tennessee. With a long-distance relationship simmering, Juliette faces life-shifting decisions. How can she possibly choose between a promising culinary life and Neil, a man a world away in more ways than one? And is it possible her Grandmother’s story can help show the way?
My Review:
There are times you want a fast paced romantic story, and other times you want one that digs deeper. This is one of those books that digs a little deeper. Juliette seemed so down to earth to me, I could relate to her family as well. I loved how it showed her love for her family, yet her frustration with them at the same time.
The details in here on the old family recipes was one of the best parts of this book. It might have been the recipes that made the book slower to read and digest, but throughly enjoyable. The food descriptions were so well done, you felt you could almost smell and taste them through the page.
The family mystery was understated, but woven through the story, in an effort to keep that question always coming up. You always know that families have secrets, but this one was not as dramatically done, but done well. It is for sure not suspense.
The book is more a woven book of word pictures, of a close family that loves cooking for people. I think this was one of the reasons I enjoyed the book so much. While our family does not own a restaurant, we have always spent time cooking for others, large groups and really enjoyed it as a whole. I am looking forward to trying some of the recipes in the book.
One of the other things I honestly enjoyed about this, was Juliette loved to write about food as well, and she was good at it. That sparked all kinds of ideas for me.
This book was given to me for review from Blogging For Books. The opinions contained herein are solely my own.