Keeping the Feast by Paula Butturini

Hello, hello everyone!  Welcome back to another exciting week here at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers!  I trust you all had a wonderful weekend...I managed to get in a fairly decent sized amount of reading as well as take in the movie version of Shutter Island.  It was pretty good, but definitely raised a few questions...my thoughts on which shall be reserved for another post (hey, it will make a great conversation starter for 'Food for Thought' post...you'll see...).  In other news, if you were one of the fantabulous (Like that one?) readers that entered to win a copy of the "Bunkie" book....never fear, there will be a special announcement TOMORROW regarding the winners....a very special announcement indeed....  Moving on....

Today's post is one that I had intended to have up and running last week as the book's official release date was February 18th.  However, due to circumstances somewhat beyond my control, I wasn't completely done reading the title yet....and you know I don't review a book on here that I haven't read so, yup...had to postpone it.  Since I was almost at the end, I stayed up to the wee hours of the morning on Saturday finishing what I had already deemed a tasty reading treat (that will make more sense in a few seconds) and was left satisfied indeed.  Today's book of choice is....

Keeping the Feast

by

Paula Butturini

A feast for the eyes, a feast for the heart, a feast for the (virtual) mouth....Keeping the Feast has something to please all of your senses in one way or another.  This is a true recollection of life and love...triumph and tragedy...and simply learning to do the best with what one is given...told through that medium that brings us all together...food! Let's face it, it's the one thing that everyone needs and most people enjoy. It's the universal similarity between each of us that can just as easily start a war as it can also bring it to an abrupt halt. The trials of which the author speaks that both she and her family (both extended and blood-relation) experienced will touch your heart, while the food that she recants the tale through will have your mouth watering for more.  Follow along as Paula Butturini and John Tagliabue face the world head-on even if at times illness in its many forms forced one or the other to take a back seat approach.  You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be hungry for more (I mean story-wise as well as food wise!).

When I submitted my request for the opportunity to review this book, I was drawn by two things.  First of all, the summary (HA!  Gotcha!  Betcha thought I was going to say the cover, right?).  My heritage being a mix of both Northern and Southern Italian, and the mainstay of the events taking place in or around Italy as well as the US.....it simply called to me.  With the amount of details surrounding the sites, sounds, smells, tastes, and people, it is as close as one can come to the real life version without stepping foot on a plane.  The second reason for my requesting this title was the cover and title combination.  Though quiet in its use of subtle tones and font styling, it is that simple beauty that captured my attention and drew me in for a closer look.  It seemed to say to me...I have a story to share.  Come closer so that I may whisper it in your hear and allow you to experience the savory memories that I alone can share.  (Yep, it was wordy, but insistant!) 

Those two initial desires satiated, my heart and mind were open to the story being told.  Underneath the flourish of mouth-watering descriptions and hearty appetites, I discovered the emotional tale of two lives intertwined and yet held separate at times by fate.  We start out with a hardship over a disbanded marriage, move into the joy and promise of a new life and love, dabble in the mysteries of a mind beset by its own overwhelming emotions, and in the end settle on a focus more about the quality of a life existing than of worry about tomorrow.  They travelled the world, encountering life in its many forms; experiencing both the highs and lows offered....all the while, they held steadfast to the love they both shared that would tether them to each new day.  If ever a tale of perserverance, strength, and love existed, you would be hard pressed to displace this new found gem for it's not just the story that enchants...it's the ease of which it is related to the masses through a love and appreciation for food.

Recommended reading for anyone that enjoys a touching story ripped from the pages of yesterday as well as those who know someone that experiences depression as the author shares its effects honestly on not just the afflicted, but also those they hold dear. I would certainly think this book may be a small way to uplift their spirits and see that their future is not as dark as they may imagine.

ARC for review received via Shelf Awareness and Lydia at Riverhead Books.  For information on either party, feel free to click through the links included.....and of course, they can also be found on Twitter!  (here and here)


Until next time....happy reading!