菓子フェスの庭

洋菓子 #3

by Sayuri Ueda, 上田 早夕里

神戸にあるフランス菓子店“ロワゾ・ドール”に、西富百貨店の武藤という男性が訪れた。西宮ガーデンズで行う「お菓子のフェスティバル」に参加して欲しいという。中堅パティシエの夏織は、その新作づくりに抜擢され日々奮闘していた。そんな折、密かに想いをよせていた先輩パティシエの恭也が、東京からひょっこり帰ってきて…。「ラ・パティスリー」の五年後を描いた、とびっきり美味しくて幸福なパティシエ小説、文庫オリジナルで登場。

200 pages, Paperback Bunko

First published June 1, 2011

About the author

Born in Hyogo Prefecture, Sayuri Ueda (上田 早夕里, Ueda Sayuri) is one of the more innovative science fiction authors in Japan. She made her debut in 2003 with Kasei daku barado (Mars Dark Ballad), which won the 4th Komatsu Sakyo Prize. She has published a series of highly original, much discussed works, gaining avid fans not only in Japan but throughout Asia and the West. Karyu no miya (The Ocean Chronicles) won the Hayakawa Publishing “SF ga Yomitai!” Award for Best Japanese SF Novel in 2010, as well as the 32nd Japan SF Award and 10th Sense of Gender Award in 2011. She also writes actively in genres other than science fiction, and in 2018, her historical novel Hametsu no ō (The King of Ruin) was nominated for the 159th Naoki Prize.

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 2 out of 5]

The one good thing about this book is it has a lot of information about how pâtissiers in cake shops/dessert shops run their business and there're a lot of information on how desserts are being prepared, I actually like how the story is focused on the female pâtissier-in-training facing different challenges and creating yummy desserts instead of focusing her mind some stupid romance.

But the story and the characters look weak and flat in my eyes. Those characters are nice people I would want to befriend and work with, but I don't find their stories interesting enough.