Heartbreak Cafe [Paperback]

Penelope Stokes J. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 2009

A touching novel full of Southern comfort for fans of Joshilyn Jackson and Fannie Flagg.

Dell Haley's mama always said there were two things a man couldn't get enough of: good cookin' and good lovin'. Well, Dell knows she's got the cookin' down pat, but her husband is getting more than his fair share of lovin'-in another woman's bed. And when he dies there, Dell's predictable life comes to a screeching halt. Short on money and education, Dell turns to the one thing that has never let her down: her cooking. For the first time in her life, Dell takes a huge risk and opens a restaurant in a derelict diner on the west end of town. The cafe gradually becomes a gathering place for a motley crew of people who become Dell's family. And yet, even as her life becomes more solid, Dell is plagued by the memory of her husband's betrayal-but the answers she seeks may have a higher price than she's willing to pay.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

This is Penelope J. Stokes’ twelfth novel. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade; Original edition (August 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425228444
• ISBN-13: 978-0425228449
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,171,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She's really done it this time, August 27, 2009

By 

M. Ellis "magnoliamansions" (Gulf Coast, Alabama) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Heartbreak Cafe (Paperback)

Penelope Stokes is a fine writer, and I have enjoyed a number of her books. With Heartbreak Cafe, she has written the best of the lot. This one will give you moments of deep thought and touch you in places you will remember for a long time. The characters are fully developed and so very human you will wish you could sit down with them over a cup of coffee at the cafe. You will laugh with them and cry with them and share their struggles with the emotions of living. You just can't help liking them, which is more than can be said for lots of current characters in today's best sellers.
In some of her earlier books, Stokes leaned heavily on what I believe is called "Christian themes". There is nothing wrong with that if you like to read such stories. The difference I found in Heartbreak Cafe is that she has woven goodness and honesty and "Christian Values" into this book without preaching. And that is the mark of an author who is approaching the heights of the art of good writing. Good job, Miss Penny, write on.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Soulful Southern cookin', May 18, 2010

By 

Mimijo "MJH" (NY USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Heartbreak Cafe (Paperback)

Fans of Adriana Trigiani's Big Stone Gap novels should devour this tasty and soulful Southern fare. There's humor and great local color in Stokes's portrayal of this small Mississippi town, where a diner called the Heartbreak Cafe is right at home with the Curl Up and Dye Beauty Parlor. But there are more serious themes, too: the betrayal of love. The delicate dance of race relations. The good and the bad of a small town where your grade-school nickname sticks to you for life -- even if it's Fart Unger. How to get up and go on when life knocks you flat. 50-year-old Dell Haley is down-to-earth and unpretentious, yet insightful. The first person point of view gets you inside her skin and it's a comfortable place to be. Nobody would blame her if she chose to "curl and up die" after what has happened to her, but instead she grows in new ways, helped by a group of diner patrons and workers who become like family. Some great characters among them: Scratch, a black man on the run from something, whom Dell has to decide to trust; loony, lusty nursing-home fugitive Purdy Overstreet; and the intriguing, gone-to-seed beauty queen turned brooding writer, Peach Rondell. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her in the forthcoming sequel The Book of Peach.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable, August 22, 2009

By 

Zoe North "lopp" (a cornfield in Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heartbreak Cafe (Paperback)

Heartbreak Cafe is an enjoyable book despite a few cliched characters and a bit of contriving in the end. The majority of the characters are believable and delightful, and the setting is well written. The recipes included are good and are the type one would expect to be used by the protagonist. I would have given it 3 and 1/2 stars if possible. It's not great literature but is worth the purchase price.