Our October/November Pick: Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots

Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots is a title that invited me to take a closer look at the book. Reading a brief description of the novel by Jessica Soffer made me choose it as my selection for Cook the Books. 

Lorca, the troubled teenage girl who is one of the novel’s protagonists, sets out to find a recipe for Masgouf, an Iraqi dish that her mother, a chef, once said was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. Lorca’s quest leads her to Victoria, a widowed Iraqi-Jewish immigrant who can teach her how to make the dish. The two bond over the simple act of cooking together. 

I don't want to tell you more about the novel. Through its cast of characters, the story talks about immigration, parenting, teenage angst, and, of course, food. 

I found this interview with the author particularly interesting. At the beginning, she says:

For the most part, I am inspired by characters and by images. The story was born from Lorca (a teenage pain addict, whom I’d written a story about while I was in graduate school) and an image that suddenly came to me and persisted: two people—an old woman and a young girl—cooking together in a kitchen. What grew out of that, around that, was a way of situating those elements.

Don’t you want to find out what Masgouf is, what Lorca and Victoria cook together and how it all unfolds? I hope so. Join us then in this edition of our very special book club.

"Bukra fil mish mish," the Arabic saying goes. Tomorrow, apricots may bloom."

Submissions for this round of Cook The Books are due by end-of-the day Wednesday, November 30, 2016. Anyone can join by reading the current selection, preparing a dish inspired by its contents and writing about it. Let me know when your entry post is up by commenting on this post and/or sending me an email at: simosite AT mac DOT com. 

New to Cook the Books? Check out our About and Guidelines pages or leave a question in the comments on this post. 

Simona of briciole