The Baker's Apprentice (by Judith Ryan Hendricks)

(Amazon UK link)

I first came across novels by Judith Ryan Hendricks eight years ago when I was given 'Bread Alone'  unexpectedly, and found (a little to my surprise) that I enjoyed it. Much more recently, Amazon recommended 'Isabel's Daughter' by the same author, and I liked that very much indeed - sufficiently so to add another of her books, listed as a sequel to 'Bread Alone' to my wishlist.

However, I had entirely forgotten about that when I was given it for my birthday a few months ago, and also when I picked it up to start reading it, a little over a week ago.

The novel is related by Wyn who is passionate about breadmaking, and is co-owner of a small, specialist bread shop in America. She is in a fairly new relationship with the evasive Mac, a struggling writer. She's still coming to terms with her recent divorce, and not getting anywhere with her attempt at financial settlement, and she's not entirely comfortable with her new stepfather, either.

I read last thing at night; the book is quite long and the font small, and it took me a few chapters to get into this book. It also took me a couple of days to realise that the names and situations felt oddly familiar. My only excuse is that it's eight years since I read 'Bread Alone'; I did pick it up and quickly skim the last few pages just to check that it was referring to the same characters!

I found this story a bit slow-moving at first, which doesn't sit too well with the present-tense narration, and tended to make me feel more sleepy at night, not conducive to reading more than a few pages. However, I gradually found that I was becoming more and more interested in what was going on. There are a lot of subplots, and quite a few people; I didn't sort them all out in my mind, and some (such as Wyn's best friend CM) stayed very vague in my imagination.

However, I very much liked the tetchy teenage Tyler, who becomes the 'apprentice' of the book title, and I became rather fond of Mac too, who finds it very hard to get close to anyone and struggles with Wyn's emotional side. It made sense to me that he feels that he has to put some space between them in order to figure out how he feels, and that he eventually realises that he can explain his background better by writing letters.

The book has the added bonus of a few bread recipes which sound interesting, although they didn't make me feel inspired to follow any of them. I was slightly disappointed that the recipes did not include the often-mentioned 'Mazurka Bars' since I had no idea what these are - but I have managed to find some recipes online, and look forward to experimenting.

By the time I was half-way through, I was very eager to find out what happened, and read the second half a great deal more quickly. All in all, I liked this book very much. It would probably have been better still if I had read 'Bread Alone' a little more recently, but it stands alone well and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a thoughtful, contemporary novel.

Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 16th July 2012

Isabel's Daughter (by Judith Ryan Hendricks)

(Amazon UK link)

It was about seven years ago that I read 'Bread Alone' by Judi Hendricks, and was surprised how much I enjoyed it. More recently Amazon recommended this book to me, and as the blurb sounded interesting, I put it on my wishlist and was given it a few months ago. I was pleased to discover that the author - Judith Ryan Hendricks - is the same person as Judi Hendricks.

'Isabel's Daughter' is about Avery who is a determined, sometimes outspoken, and intelligent young woman. At the start of the book, she is in her mid-twenties, working for a catering company. We meet her at work, pondering the ripples that arise out of the loss of a contact lens. For Avery has unusual eyes that are of different colours. Hassled already, she sees a portrait of someone with the same eyes, and knows that it can only be of her mother... whom she never met.

This starts Avery on a journey of discovery, although at first she is not particularly eager to know about the woman who abandoned her as a baby. We quickly learn that she was brought up in a children's home. It was pleasant enough; she was not hurt or neglected, but never felt as if she could fit in. Then, when she lost her two only friends at the age of 13, she ran away.

The book is set in different time-frames - first 2000, and then back in 1988, at the place where Avery arrived after running away. We follow her in her new and different life, going through puberty and finding various skills, and then return to 2000 and her adult life. As she thinks about people in the past, and learns more about her mother and her various friends and colleagues, Avery is gradually able to accept herself and - eventually - see how her future might pan out.

The style is racy, written primarily in the present tense. I found it difficult to put down, after a few chapters, and read the bulk of it in one sitting. Avery is a wonderful and believable creation, and while there are one or two coincidences that slightly stretched my credulity, they somehow don't matter in context.

There is a large cast of minor characters, and I sometimes found myself wondering who was whom - but never in a place where it was a problem.

Really, my only slight complaint about the book is that there is more bad language than I am comfortable with - but it was not jarring, or excessive, and unfortunately seems to pervade most modern novels.

Definitely recommended.

Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 1st August 2011

Bread alone (by Judith Ryan Hendricks)

(Amazon UK link)

'Bread alone' is an unusual novel by Judi Hendricks, also known as Judith Ryan Hendricks.

I really didn't expect to enjoy this book. It's not one I'd have chosen, as it's more-or-less in the 'chick-lit' genre, but someone gave it to me. So in an idle moment I picked it up, thinking it would while away a few hours over the next week or so....

I was pleasantly surprised. This is a charming book, the first novel by Judi Hendricks. It's told in the first person by Wyn Morrison, a young women in her late twenties who lives in California in the USA. As the book opens, she's about to attend an interview at a job recruiting agency, and we quickly learn that she's having problems with her seven-year marriage to David.

The time-frame moves forwards and backwards in a way that could be annoying, but it's so cleverly done using Wyn's memories and emotions that I didn't find it disturbing at all. A picture slowly emerges of a girl with a pleasant childhood until her father dies suddenly in her late teens. She had a happy marriage to a good-looking and successful businessman who really wanted a wife on display, to further his career and look after him. 

Wyn doesn't have much idea what she wants for herself in life, but she's basically quite contented with her lot. She sometimes finds David's business lunches and entertaining a bit overwhelming, but goes along with them since she loves him and likes being married to him.

But David has changed. He doesn't want life to continue as it has done, and he becomes too friendly with another high-flyer in his office. Wyn believes all his excuses about staying late for meetings, so when he announces one day that he wants them to separate, her world is torn apart. She has no idea what to do, but starts by going to spend a couple of weeks with her best friend in Seattle.

The book is about Wyn gradually coming to terms with herself, thinking about what she really wants, and learning to make a stand about things that matter to her. I found her very believable, perhaps because her character is rather like mine: primarily wanting peace and harmony, quite prepared to go along with other people's plans and trust them rather than risk conflict. Which of course can lead to ostrich-like behaviour, withdrawing or hiding in order to avoid problems.

The style of the book is typically American, reminding me a little of Anne Tyler in the racy, fast-paced descriptions and conversations. In the first few chapters I felt a bit of culture shock since everybody appeared to spend their time rushing around, going out to eat, or buying takeaways, or - at best - heating frozen pizzas in the microwave. A far cry from my own experience of home-cooked family meals.

But Wyn does these things because she has plenty of money, and because it's the way she's learned to live in her marriage. At heart she's a home-lover, and her passion is baking bread. And here's where this book stands out rather oddly from similar novels - it contains recipes. Not a large number; I think there were four in all, as well as some general explanations about how to make yeast starters, and how to make 'real' bread rather than the plastic sliced stuff sold by supermarkets.

I wouldn't have believed it possible to include recipes within a novel without a break in the story, but somehow Judi Hendricks does it. They sounded so good that I was tempted to leap up and bake them, but by that stage I was finding the story so interesting that I didn't want to leave it. I learned a lot about bread, and was inspired to read more about baking as a result!

There's a bit of humour, too. Wyn's style is understated, with irony and some wordplay. She doesn't think a lot of herself, and is surprised when other people actively like her. Of course I was rooting for her to get together with the right guy. Yes, there's a bit of love interest, and one or two mildly explicit scenes towards the end, although they too were tinged with humour.

In addition, it's a thought-provoking novel. Wyn has never had a very good relationship with her mother; when she remarries, Wyn almost feels betrayed as she had always idolised her father. But gradually she learns more about her parents' marriage, and this perhaps more than anything else enables her to grow up and become an adult in her own right.

The strangest thing of all is that the whole book is written in the present tense, yet I didn't even notice until I was over half-way through! I think this is because the first page has a date at the top ('Los Angeles, 1988') so reads a little like a diary entry, and then after the job interview it launches into Wyn's reflections about the past. It's the first book I've read which works - really works - in this tense, without in any way being distracting.

Who would like it? Probably anyone who enjoys character-based novels without a whole lot of action. But I think it has a wider appeal than that, too. Not if your choice of reading is horror or thrillers, perhaps, but then again - it's not quite like anything I've read before, switching as it does between reflections on marriage, family life, careers.. and baking. I think it would be ideal for reading on holiday.

Recommended.