The Heartpine Recipes: A Coming Home Novel by L.C. Fields

 

"It was a high honor to be sitting there listening, getting a glimpse into the mind of the alchemist. I folded the paper carefully, like the important document it was. I reached down for my purse, and then I stopped.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "You really want to give up your recipe?"

The Heartpine Recipes: A Coming Home Novel by L.C. Fields is a heartwarming tale set in the small Tennessee town of Heartpine.

Blurb:

The Heartpine Recipes

It's more than southern storytelling. It's southern storytelling with a side of biscuits.

When Grace Collier comes back to Heartpine, Tennessee, she's thinking about endings. The end of her job. The end of her engagement. Instead, she finds a new beginning. A journey of discovery that will reconnect her to her home place... as well as her own past.

Like so many southern tales, this one starts out in the kitchen. Grace's Aunt Jess - the wise, loving woman who raised her after her parents passed - is collecting recipes for a new community cookbook. It's not long before Grace finds herself an honorary member of the cookbook committee; and next thing she knows, she's busy gathering up all the rich stories that come with those recipes. All the surprises, all the mysteries, all the memories. Along the way, she gets to know a townful of unforgettable characters. Stirs up a few old secrets. And comes to terms, finally, with her own legacy of loss.

It's about the recipes, yes. But more than that, it's about the relationships. It's a journey that links families and generations. A journey of homecoming and redemption.

And just for fun, every chapter includes an iconic southern recipe - so you can cook them up yourself and see what all the fuss is about. From cornbread to collards, from pulled pork to pineapple casserole, you'll find them here. There's even a never-fail recipe for the best sweet tea you've ever tasted (not that a true southern cook would need a recipe for that, heaven knows!)

Touching, positive and uplifting, The Heartpine Recipes is a generous serving of warmth, humor and heart.

Grace Collier is unsure about her future. Having lost her job and fiance, she moves back to her childhood town of Heartpine, to stay with her Aunt Jess and figure out what to do next. Her parents died when she was a young child, and it was Aunt Jess who brought her up.

Grace dreams of being a writer, she has always been writing stories and diaries, since she was a child. Her job as a copywriter wasn't exactly the most creative, as she had to endorse cookware. 

When Grace arrives to Aunt Jess, she discovers a group of ladies from the Heartpine Ladies' League who set up their mind on putting together a cookbook of the local recipes, as a charity fundraiser. 

"The Heartpine Ladies' League is one of those institutions that exists partly to do charitable work around the town, and partly to give the members an opportunity to socialize, start rumors and commiserate over the doings of various friends and relations".

Soon Grace finds herself co-opted into the editing of the book.

"And finally, somewhere along the way, I agreed to help out with the cookbook. It felt like the right thing. It wasn't like I had anything better to do."

The recipes begin to pour in, all tested by generations of family cooks. Some of these recipes are guarded as a secret, some are considered to be a historical legacy. There is even a controversial dispute on the submitted apple cobbler recipe (this was one of my favourite chapters).

Each recipe comes with a family story. As Grace and her aunt meet the recipe entrants, they listen to the stories. All these tales create a striking visual image of the town characters and history.

And while digging into the history of her childhood town and its inhabitants, Grace realises that the cook book "had come along at just the right time, giving me something to throw myself into - something to keep me from having to confront all the big, uncomfortable questions." Will the homecoming turn to be the step in the right direction?

The narrative is sparkling with gentle humour. Descirbing the meeting of the cookbook committee, Grace mentions, "The panel convened at the dining room table, taking their places silently, with a due regard for the significance of the occasion".

This book reminded me of The Quilter's Kitchen by Jennifer Chiaverini. It has a similar vibe of camaraderie and shared interests, and is a record of beloved recipes. And the format is much alike, as you have a mix of recipes and personal stories. 

The Heartpine Recipes is a enjoyable book of stories and recipes, seasoned with love and history. 

This post is part of the blog tour for The Heartpine Recipes.

Many thanks to L.C. Fields and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D57K46J1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D57K46J1

Author Bio:

You’ve probably read some of L.C. Fields’s writing, somewhere along the line. That’s because L.C. has spent a couple of decades at ad agencies, writing for a few of the great icon brands. Some of that experience is baked into L.C.’s fiction.

 

L.C. lives in rural Southwest Virginia – about an hour’s drive from the imagined town of Heartpine – off a winding gravel road. It’s a grand place to listen to the wind, watch the animals (including one ridiculously cute Kerry Blue Terrier) and soak up inspiration.

 

The Heartpine Recipes is L.C.’s first (published) novel.

 

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556838435615

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lcfieldswriter/

Website: https://lcfields.com

Amazon author page: https://amazon.com/author/lcfields_writer

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