The Little Italian Bakery by Valentina Cebeni

Elettra has learned from her mother that food is the simplest way to touch people's hearts. When her mother falls ill and into a coma, Elettra is left to run the family bakery, but soon discovers that her pastries and cakes do not have the same capacity to enchant customers. Along with this, she discovers burning questions about her mother's past which demand answers, and sets out on a journey to Tavolara, an island in Sardinia, where the recipes of her mother's work originate. In Tavolara, Elettra discovers a convent in which her mother was brought up. A long procession of women in black trudge the dusty roads that lead to the sea, and Elettra becomes acquainted with a new way of life and community. The island is filled with secrets in every corner, and the truth is only hinted at in the form of forbidden love, affairs and lost friendships. The island is also infused with the scents of her mother's cooking (that of aniseed and lemon) allowing Elettra to feel protected. She is determined to discover the link between the island and the most important woman in life, along with the desire to discover herself. The Little Italian Bakery is a story of food, memory and the influence of the past.

ISBN: 9781408707951