Mr. Menick contacted me about reviewing his first book, The Muffin Child, and sent me a complimentary copy. The Muffin Child is a wonderful book about a young Balkan girl, Tanya, who is orphaned when her parents are trapped on a collapsing bridge. To sidestep her grief, Tanya begins to bake muffins using her mother's special recipe. Soon all the townspeople are devouring her delicious muffins, leading to outrage among the jealous wives. It's a story about betrayal, grief, and loneliness that never becomes too sentimental. Although I've never had to deal with the tragedies that struck Tanya, I could feel her very emotions, since they were described so richly. While some of the dialogue is a little unrealistic, what amazed me was how powerful and deep the characters were. Even the villainous wives and frighteningly-described Gypsies brought many different sides to notoriously one-dimensional characters. And what I thought was an old, tired setup scene (a mother telling her grandmother's story to her daughter) turned out to be a very moving theme. On a surface level, I suppose you could call this book a "fairy tale for the '90s" (though that is a little degrading)--it's smart, has a bright and precocious heroine, and combines adventure with some sadness and lots of intrigue. But on a deeper level, it's a beautiful character study that looks simple, yet holds intense secrets. The book has gotten absolute rave reviews on Amazon! I thank Mr. Menick for sending me a copy of this terrific novel.
Mr. Menick contacted me about reviewing his first book, The Muffin Child, and sent me a complimentary copy. The Muffin Child is a wonderful book about a young Balkan girl, Tanya, who is orphaned when her parents are trapped on a collapsing bridge. To sidestep her grief, Tanya begins to bake muffins using her mother's special recipe. Soon all the townspeople are devouring her delicious muffins, leading to outrage among the jealous wives. It's a story about betrayal, grief, and loneliness that never becomes too sentimental. Although I've never had to deal with the tragedies that struck Tanya, I could feel her very emotions, since they were described so richly. While some of the dialogue is a little unrealistic, what amazed me was how powerful and deep the characters were. Even the villainous wives and frighteningly-described Gypsies brought many different sides to notoriously one-dimensional characters. And what I thought was an old, tired setup scene (a mother telling her grandmother's story to her daughter) turned out to be a very moving theme. On a surface level, I suppose you could call this book a "fairy tale for the '90s" (though that is a little degrading)--it's smart, has a bright and precocious heroine, and combines adventure with some sadness and lots of intrigue. But on a deeper level, it's a beautiful character study that looks simple, yet holds intense secrets. The book has gotten absolute rave reviews on Amazon! I thank Mr. Menick for sending me a copy of this terrific novel.