This book was darker than I thought it would be. Erin grew up in an abusive home, didn't have support when she became pregnant and wanted to have her child, and then entered into a terrible marriage. What I loved is that she was so honest about it all. She gave the facts and recognized where she should have known better, looking back through the lens of experience. There are certainly aspects of her life that were downright awful and better choices could have changed that, but can't we all look back and say if we had made a better choice, things would have been different?
There aren't a lot of stories in this book. Rather, there is a lot of description (in her restaurants, you can literally picture every detail... at the end, when she is complementing her staff, it reads like a letter of recommendation rather than a novel) and there are a lot of emotions. She clearly has worked with a therapist and is able to sort through her feelings. However, I wanted a bit more at times about how she was able to do what she was. Where did the money come from to buy two restaurants? How was she so successful without any formal chef training? What role did her mom play - it was clearly a big one, but I think parts are left out.
I didn't connect with the author but I can tell that this was a tough book to write and I admire her for writing it and thriving despite all she's gone through.
There aren't a lot of stories in this book. Rather, there is a lot of description (in her restaurants, you can literally picture every detail... at the end, when she is complementing her staff, it reads like a letter of recommendation rather than a novel) and there are a lot of emotions. She clearly has worked with a therapist and is able to sort through her feelings. However, I wanted a bit more at times about how she was able to do what she was. Where did the money come from to buy two restaurants? How was she so successful without any formal chef training? What role did her mom play - it was clearly a big one, but I think parts are left out.
I didn't connect with the author but I can tell that this was a tough book to write and I admire her for writing it and thriving despite all she's gone through.