Rosanna Chiofalo

I picked this book out because I enjoyed her book Bella Fortuna so much. What a nice surprise to have a few of the characters from Bella Fortuna in this book too.

Pia is grieving her sister and goes to New York to spend a few months with her aunt and to work an internship.

Francesca is a very famous movie star who winds up in the same city, right across the street. Francesca is trying to make amends for some major mistakes she made earlier in life.

Francesca agrees to let Pia interview her.

Most of what I've said here is probably on the book jacket. So here are my thoughts:
- the storyline is not too sad
- both main characters can be very stubborn at times but you can usually sympathize with their motivation behind their actions (usually, not always of course)
- loved the cameos from Bella Fortuna
- loved the recipes being included at the end
- enjoyable book… (meer)

First of all I loved this story. It was rich and full of the flavor of the love of baking and nuns life complete with the love of God as well as their fellow man. It could have been dark and depressing and instead it was filled with light and love and hope.

The story transports the reader back in time to a period when rape victims were faced with blame and their families had to live with shame. Rosalia is a young woman who becomes the object of an obsession by a creepy youth who eventually kidnaps her, rapes her and forces her to send a letter to her family saying that she ran away willingly. When she is found by the nuns abandoned in a cave, bruised and naked, she is unable to remember her name and where she is from. The nuns nurse her back to living and teach her to bake in their pastry shop. Eventually her memory returns but when she is taken back to her village, her family have moved on because the shame related to her disappearance.

Rosalia returns to the convent but continues to search for her family believing that one day she will be reunited with them.

The depth of emotion that is related in this story was overwhelming at times but the reader is rewarded throughout by the beautiful story telling and characters.… (meer)

Rosalia’s Bittersweet Pastry Shop by Rosanna Chiofalo tells the story of Rosalia Di Santa and the pastry shop at Santa Lucia del Mela Convent in Sicily. Claudia Lombardo is a writer and she wishes to do a book (a cookbook with stories) on the convent and its marvelous pastries (she also has a blog titled Chow Girl). Claudia gets to stay at the convent, watch the delicious delicacies being made, and interview the Mother Superior of the convent. The Mother Superior tells Claudia the story of the bakery and Rosalia. It takes us back to 1955 and how the sisters found Rosalia. The Mother Superior then slowly reveals Rosalia’s story. Read Rosalia’s Bittersweet Pastry Shop to find out the secrets behind their delectable desserts.

The book is well-written (easy to read) and the writer does a very good job at describing the desserts (if I liked pastries I would want to devour them). The novel seemed to go on forever. It started out interesting, but then the pace slowed down considerably (though it does pick up again near the end). What the Mother Superior ultimately reveals is easy to figure out during the course of the novel. Rosanna Chiofalo is a descriptive writer which makes it easy to visualize what she is describing (a wonderful quality for a writer). If the pace had been a little faster, it would have made the novel much more enjoyable (and the book shortened just a bit). I give Rosalia’s Bittersweet Pastry Shop 3 out of 5 stars. There are recipes at the end of the book.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest evaluation of the novel.… (meer)