The Cookbook Collector
by Allegra Goodman

Allegra Goodman’s delightful new novel, ‘The Cookbook Collector’ is the tale of two very different sisters. Set in 1999 (pre-9/11 at the height of the high-tech ‘bubble’), Emily is the organized, ambitious, financially successful CEO of a high-tech start-up company while her younger, dreamy and impetuous sister, Jess, is a half-hearted philosophy student and ‘tree-hugger’ who works part-time in an antiquarian book shop. Emily has a well-established relationship with another high-flying, dot-com entrepreneur, Jonathon, whose start-up is headquartered on the east coast while Jess seems destined to fall ‘head-over-heels’ into relationships without a future.
The title of the book comes from an extraordinary opportunity that comes along for George, the book shop owner, when he is given the chance to inventory - and to possibly purchase - a large, unique collection of antique cookbooks which he employs Jess to evaluate and inventory. Ultimately, this brings Jess into an unexpected closeness with her much older, rumpled, and long solitary employer who has always harbored tender feelings for her. In this novel, it not the magic of cooking as much as the magic of a shared exploration of this vast cookbook collection which opens up unexpected possibilities between Jess and her employer.
While Jess’s personal life takes many emotional turns, it is the drama that unfolds for Emily that is the most unexpected in the novel. When the ‘dot.com’ bubble bursts and tragedy hits close to home, it is Jess who becomes Emily’s rock for a time. The author does a wonderful job of blending many personal stories that surround the two sisters with revealing relationships and events that provide context to the primary story lines.
‘The Cookbook Collector’ is beautifully written and an easy, somewhat romantic, read that also poses some significant questions the reader will ponder long after its last chapter. Why do we collect? What do our personal collections and the spaces we create say about us? Can a collection of material things nourish us spiritually? Can such a collection at times isolate us from others or from the outside world? How does a collection become personal? Why does it feel so wonderful to be surrounded by things of beauty and meaning?
Allegra Goodman is the author of a number of other novels – ‘Kaaterskill Falls’, ‘Paradise Park’, ‘Intuition’, and ‘The Other Side of the Island.’ She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and children. I love this quote from Allegra. “These days I write while my four children are at school At times the year seems like one snow day, sick day, and staff day after another but somehow, slowly, my work gets done. I love my job. Each book teaches me something new about character and plot and structure. I am dedicating my life to learning how to tell a story.”
‘The Cookbook Collector’ is a lovely collection of personal stories that pose real questions about what is most meaningful and valuable in our lives.