Feeding Christine: A Novel [Paperback]

Barbara Chepaitis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 2001

An exciting new voice in women’s fiction, Barbara Chepaitis has penned a deft and delicious debut that explores the camaraderie shared by four exceptional women. Witty, acute, and infused with the warmth of a timeless family kitchen, Feeding Christine is a delightful ode to the unbreakable bond that exists between true friends.

Teresa DiRosa believes that life, like fine food, is made special by mixing together the best ingredients: time, patience, and a lot of love. Owner of a thriving catering business, Bread and Roses, she has turned the feeding of bodies and souls into her life’s work.

Now, with her niece Christine, best friend and bookkeeper Delia, and baker Amberlin, Teresa is gearing up for Bread and Roses’ biggest event of the year: their holiday open house. But as Teresa juggles recipes and decorations, her personal life is spinning out of control.

Her divorce is barely final when a handsome acquaintance hints that he’d like to be more than just friends. Her son has chosen to spend Christmas with his father. And her niece seems to be losing her grip on sanity as her wedding to a prominent psychologist approaches.

When Christine arrives distraught in the midst of the preparty cooking marathon, only Teresa can save her. The radical steps she takes to rescue her niece shock everyone, but with Delia’s and Amberlin’s help, Teresa feeds Christine a healthy dose of courage, wisdom, and love, in a wholly original, can’t-fail recipe for the ages.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the midst of Teresa DiRosa's frantic preparations for the annual holiday party thrown by her catering company, Bread and Roses, her niece, Christine, appears, threatening suicide. Exasperated, Teresa bonks Christine over the head with a frying pan ("not the cast iron... just an old Teflon"), drags her down to the cellar, ties her securely and resumes cooking for the party with her co-workers. Except for a brief resolution, this sums up the action in Chepaitis's overly sentimental, humorless novel. The rest is back-story, memories and exposition as Teresa and her colleagues, Delia and Amberlin, peel carrots and discuss how to cope with the madwoman in the basement. But it's not just Christine who's struggling with bleakness and depression: for the first time ever, Teresa's college-age son isn't coming home for the annual party, and she's reminded of her failures as a mother and as a wife. And uniting Teresa to her niece is the haunting despair concerning Nan, Teresa's sister and Christine's mother, an alcoholic who committed suicide seven years ago. Teresa claims to be fiercely protective of Christine's life ("And I won't I won't I won't let her die"), but with the action confined largely to one room and relying heavily on one character's memories, no one in the melodrama ever gets out and lives with any urgency. Teresa's romance with a shy widower and Christine's unhappy relationship with her psychiatrist fianc? seem like rote devices to flesh out these characters by giving them outside lives, but the author misses a chance to reveal their inner lives by choosing to focus on the recurrent themes of food and cooking. Throughout, the four main characters serve up an inconsistent m?lange of irrelevant memories while the plot flows as sluggishly as molasses. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Chepaitis weaves together food and life in her first novel, whose central characters need both nourishing and nurturing. Teresa DiRosa is the recently divorced owner of Bread and Roses, a catering company. While employees Delia and Amberlin help her prepare for her annual open house, Teresa's troubled niece Christine arrives at the house. When Teresa inadvertently discovers Christine's plan to kill herself, she does the only thing she can think of to save her: Teresa locks her niece in the basement in the midst of her company's biggest party of the year while feeding her doses of love and good cooking. This is the story of family, friendship, food, and the ways women connect and heal one another. A strong work that will best reside in public libraries.DKathy Ingels Helmond, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (July 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553381121
• ISBN-13: 978-0553381122
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,167,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm liking the idea of hearing from my readers.
I write, spending time with a group of imaginary friends I love and cherish. Then those imaginary friends go out into the world and meet others. But how often is the gap between those worlds bridged?
This service is a bridge. Come on across and talk to me!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Feeding Christine, July 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Feeding Christine (Hardcover)

"Feeding Christine" is a definite must-read for those of us who enjoy the love of cooking,the camradarie of women, and family. The four women in the book show us the value of friendship, the joy of cooking, and the wisdom we all have to offer each other.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Feeding your soul, October 12, 2000

By 

Sarah Lehan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Feeding Christine (Hardcover)

Wonderful book! A beautifully written book that is a treat for all your senses. Barbara Chepaitis has created a book with the care her characters take to prepare their food. I read very many books of all kinds and this book goes on my top 10 list and I plan to recommend it to all my friends. I belong to a book group and I can hardly wait to discuss it with them because there are so many layers to this marvelous book. Truly a book to savor.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I really enjoyed this book, November 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Feeding Christine (Hardcover)

I thought this book was a little gem. It was so wonderful to read at the end of each day. The character development was wonderful and the meaning of life and love surrounding food was fun. I would recommend it as an enjoyable book