striking and evocative.' -Patricia Wood, author of Lottery 'Intricately plotted, peopled with quirky, small-town heroes that come alive on the page, Simply from Scratchis a wonderful debut.

You'll wish you knew these people, this world.' -Justin Cronin, author of The Passage 'An utterly charming read about love and loss and what makes people go on with their lives after tragedy. There's enough warmth here to fill your house on the coldest night. Imbued with hope but blessedly lacking in sentimentality, it is a fresh, stirring take on the devastation of grief and the holiness of friendship.' -Marisa de los Santos, bestselling author of Love Walked Inand Belong to Me 'Newcomer Alicia Bessette has written a love-letter of a novel. 'This story of a young widow edging warily back into the world is full of vivid characters and grace. Together, and with the help of a lively and loveable cast of friends and family, Zell and Ingrid embark on winning the Desserts that Warm the Soul contest - and learn that through the many sorrows and joys of life, with a little bit of flour and a pinch of love, anything is possible. When an embarrassing baking mishap brings Zell and Ingrid together, they form an unlikely friendship that will alter both of their lives forever. With an imagination as big as her heart, Ingrid treasures her doting father but begins to plot how she will meet the woman who abandoned her so many years ago. Meanwhile, Zell's nine-year-old neighbor, Ingrid Knox, is learning to cope with the loneliness of growing up without a mother. That is, until she decides to enter the first annual Desserts that Warm the Soul baking contest, hoping to donate the grand prize to Katrina survivors in Nick's memory. She hasn't even turned on her oven because cooking was Nick's chore.

But Zell is still unable to enter her attic, which is full of Nick memories. Long enough, according to the grief pamphlets, to have begun to move on with her life. It's been over a year since Nick died tragically during a post-Katrina relief mission in New Orleans. Rose-Ellen ('Zell') Carmichael Roy wears her late husband Nick's camouflage apron even when she's not in the kitchen. Poignant, bittersweet, and strikingly honest, Simply from Scratch is a radiant celebration of friendship and the strength of the human spirit. Alicia Bessette writes with compassion and tenderness to illuminate the many unexpected ways people save each others' lives every day-often without even knowing it. Read Alicia Bessette's blogs and view other content on the Penguin Community.

Simply from scratch by alicia bessette