It was funny, Sara thought as she left the courtyard and headed back out into the maze of streets. She couldn’t remember the last time she had really looked up and paid attention to anything higher than the top of her children’s heads. She had spent the past eight years looking at the ground ahead for things that would trip them, or behind for things they had dropped. The world had diminished to a height of four feet. And yet here it was, with a sky full of birds.
(from Joy for Beginners)
Joy for Beginners opens with a dinner party to celebrate Kate beating cancer. Her daughter, Robin, wants Kate to accompany her on a whitewater rafting trip through the Grand Canyon, but Kate is scared. Having survived a disease that could have taken her life, Kate doesn’t want to take unnecessary risks. But she decides that she will do it if her six friends are willing to let her choose adventures for them to tackle. Although their assignments don’t seem as risky as whitewater rafting, Kate chooses things that will challenge them, make them face life head on, and inspire them to become the women they’d always longed to be.
Erica Bauermeister tackles each of these women separately, creating a series of interconnected short stories. She displays the strengths and weaknesses of these women, who have been there for each other through the good and the bad. Caroline, who is struggling to accept the end of her marriage; Daria, who tries so hard to be unique and rebellious to hide her pain; Sara, who hasn’t made time for herself since she had children; Hadley, who’s been hiding from the world since her husband’s death; Marion, who is trying to settle into a house empty of children; and Ava, who still struggles to move beyond her mother’s death.
Bauermeister’s writing is descriptive, sensual, and insightful. I was blown away by her vivid descriptions of food in The School of Essential Ingredients, and I wasn’t disappointed this time around. In her hands, something as ordinary as gardening or baking bread is a thing of beauty, engaging all of the senses. Her prose envelopes you in emotion, and you just know that she truly understands her characters and wants you to understand them as well.
My only complaint is that I wanted more time with these women. Even if I couldn’t identify with their particular experiences, I learned enough about who they were before and how they came to be at this point in their lives to care about them as if they were truly friends. When their sections ended, only hinting as to what came next, I was torn away from them before I was ready to say goodbye. However, I appreciate how Bauermeister handled the characters and am amazed that she packed so much detail — in both what was said and what wasn’t — in so few pages. Each of the seven women was distinct, and because Bauermeister takes such great care to distinguish them in terms of age, personality, and life circumstances and show how and why they bonded together, it’s never difficult to tell them apart.
Joy for Beginners is simply a beautiful novel about friendship and families and finding your way after marriage or children or illness causes you to forget who you are. It’s painfully sad at times, but hopeful as well. The writing is simply gorgeous, and I turned the last page feeling as satisfied as if I’d just finished a hearty meal of my favorite comfort foods.
Disclosure: I received Joy for Beginners from the author for review.
© 2012 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
I’m so glad you loved this one as much as I did! It’s true that each of the women’s stories seemed short and I didn’t want them to end. Now I have to make time to read The School of Essential Ingredients.
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I loved The School of Essential Ingredients even more. Seriously, I could almost taste the food she was describing in that one!
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Sounds like this one was highly emotional. Glad to see you liked this one as much as her other book that everyone raved about.
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It was emotional, but in a good way.
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Even with the beautiful language I do fear the sadness would be too much for me
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Well even though parts of it are sad, there’s also a lot of hope and good times as well, so you shouldn’t let the sadness put you off.
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I agree – I could see a book spinoff for each one of the characters!
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Definitely!
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I won a copy of this but haven’t read it yet. It’s criminal!
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Don’t feel bad; my copy was from last year, but it worked out with it being released in paperback recently.
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I so loved this book. Erica just weaves magic with her words and her characters. I would not have complained to get more from each lady though. I loved them all.
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Glad you felt the same way I did about this one.
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Well, even if the women’s stories were short it sounds like that had interesting stories to tell. Your review makes me want to read these novel.
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Yes, they were very good stories. I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the characters.
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I really loved this one, too – and can’t wait for her next book!
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I know we’ll be in for a treat!
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Hmm, it sounds a good deal like The School of Essential Ingredients (which I didn’t like) in exploring a large number of characters and what’s going on in their lives. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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It is very similar in that respect. Sorry you didn’t enjoy School. I adored that book!
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I loved the audio version of The School of Essential Ingredients, but haven’t had a chance to read this one. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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I think you’d enjoy this one then. Hope you give it a try.
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The School of Essential Ingredients is next on my Summer TBR shelf tackle. I can’t wait!! 🙂 I don’t have this one yet but will have to pick it up now. Great review!
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I hope you love both of them as much as I did!
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I gave away my copy to my neighbor (who was going through chemo for breast cancer at the time) before I had a chance to read it!
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Your neighbor probably needed it more than you did then, but I do hope you get a chance to read it now. 🙂
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[…] Comments « Review: Joy for Beginners by Erica Bauermeister […]
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What a wonderful post. I had not heard of this before now, but it’s great that you have introduced me to it – it seems like a popular read. Thanks for the great review!
New to your blog!
Steph @ Stepping Out of the Page
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Thanks for stopping by, Steph!
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I felt like the stories in this one were a bit uneven but the good ones were just great and Bauermeister’s writing is just marvelous.
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I see your point about them being a bit uneven, but I was able to find something I enjoyed in each story, so that didn’t really bother me.
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This one sounds great – I haven’t read anything by the author but have heard good things about both of her books!
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I do hope you give her work a try!
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[…] who has won a copy of Joy for Beginners by Erica […]
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