An Enlightening Quiche

by Eva Pasco

Two headstrong women in their forties coming from different moral directions clash:

AUGUSTA BERGERON: Dysfunctional. Deceptive. Demure. More than meets the eye at face value, and stuck in a holding pattern, the town siren engages in reckless behavior she attributes to maternal abandonment until she eggs-humes her mother’s quiche recipe.

LINDSAY METCALFE: Pedigreed. Privileged. Proper. Mourning the recent death of her mother, the historian-in-residence hailing from Boston, sets out to preserve the legacy of an impoverished mill, but gets more than she bargains for when taking a self-centered adolescent under her wing.

Their alternating first-person narratives relate how an heirloom quiche recipe and baking rivalry between two bosom buddies redress erroneous assumptions, misdeeds, unleashed secrets, and malicious intent—all of which wreak havoc, altering the lives of those affected from the fallout of a tragedy.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit

562 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2016

About the author

February 3

My latest weekly BLOG posted on 01/28 - Eva’s Byte #561 - Prepared

WIP: Drafting Ch. 27, progressing from 1152 words.

READING:

'Nothing Gained' by Angela B. Mortimer - resuming from Ch. 16, p. 130 @ 52 per cent.

LATEST PUBLICATION:

'Aileen's Guesthouse':

Reader Views "Reviewers Choice Awards" General Fiction Finalist (2025)

(Charlestown, Rhode Island) - A portal for stepping into the 1970s in close proximity to those who survive the ravages of a guilt-wracked conscience and struggle to find meaning in the suffering they’ve caused.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DB6FHRY7

AWARDS:

MR. WIZARDO:

2021 Top Shelf Award Runner Up (Fiction)

2020 Best Book Award Finalist: American Book Fest

100 WILD MUSHROOMS: MEMOIRS OF THE '60s:

2018 New Apple Summer eBook Awards for Excellence in Independent Publishing: Solo Medalist Winner

2018 TopShelf Award Finalist in the Category of Memoirs (Other)

The collection sprouted from submissions to "The 60s Official Site" where Eva is a featured contributor.

A former elementary school teacher and Sixties Chick, you can access Eva’s memoirs, essays, previous blogs, and find out what she’s up to on a daily basis by checking out her bio at Authors Den.

http://www.authorsden.com/evapasco

Reviews

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a cleverly written story that kept me smiling and shaking my head at the situations that Augusta Bergeron found herself in, the thoughts she was entertaining and the truths that were being discovered. Lindsay Metcalf was the other baker and these two had issues greater than their recipes. The rivalry was intense between these two women and only through a challenge such as a quiche-off could they settle their differences.

The words chosen by Ms. Pasco made for a delightful and complex read. It was a depp and wordy composite of humor, pain, and quirkiness. I found myself rereading bits and realizing that Eva was on occasion pulling our legs with her prose, and breaking our hearts with her revelations.

Ms. Pasco certainly waxes elegantly and I found the entire book quite entertaining. There were lessons in there and they were fun uncovering. The history of the characters allows the reader feel as if they are on a fact-finding mission into a broken society. Missteps, secrets and a quick-witted sense of humor keep this book moving along at a speedy pace. There is also pain, deep heart rendering pain that makes you feel for the characters. You feel invested in their secrets.

[J.B. Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Enlightening Quiche is One Novel You'll Wish You Could Live In!

No … Despite that yummy photo of a luscious quiche on its cover, this book is not a cookbook! But the small French-Canadian mill town of Beauchemins, Rhode Island is certainly brewing up a recipe for disaster in Eva Pasco’s alluring novel, “An Enlightening Quiche”!

With such an unassuming title, one goes into “An Enlightening Quiche” thinking it might relate a simple story—one of no consequence to a single soul except those who live between the pages of Pasco’s novel, but nothing could be further from the truth. “An Enlightening Quiche” is as descriptively written as it is elegantly told with colorful, vivid characters that easily come to life before your very eyes! While meandering through the elegantly designed maze of events the author weaves in this story of four friends—some gone astray of one another—and the microcosmic world they center their lives around, I found myself, a lifetime mill town New Englander of French Canadian descent, growing as comfortable and invested in this tale as I would be sitting in my own Memere Irene et Pepere Arthur’s kitchen on any given day listening to a roster of family gossip and oft-derived suppositions!

Indeed idle gossip is the order of the day in Beauchemins as neighbors engage in observation, accusation, and instigation against neighbors without ever confronting them in public or face-to-face. And it is gossip that tears apart everything the good citizens of Beauchemin have tried so hard to protect when an unleashed argument between two jealous teenage girls—formerly, les meilleur des amies—ensues! Tabernak! Here, Pasco’s writing excels when she disseminates the litany of well-kept, profound secrets that unfurl in the wake of les jeunes femmes’ discourse, disrupting the entire balance of the tiny community and tearing apart her beloved characters’ lives. The revelation of personal burdens and family crosses that have been borne—ranging from alcoholism to common theft to adultery to hidden birth defects—rents apart the very fabric of Beauchemins, but speaks volumes about the author’s ability to completely disarm her reader with the pleasures and comforts of home just before the bomb planted underfoot explodes!

Boom! Finis!

Simply put, Eva Pasco’s “An Enlightening Quiche” is a masterpiece! In the end, I regretfully extricated myself from this well-spun and ethnically familiar tale that—at times—not only pulled at my heartstrings … but tore them out! Ask me on any given day if I miss sitting in my Memere et Pepere’s kitchen, savoring a creamy wedge of quiche, sliced toast with Gorton, and a strong cup of hot coffee, while gossip about the neighbors and estranged family members circles with the steam from our mugs overhead, and I’ll probably shed more than a few tears as memories of those long ago days flit across my mind. That is the feeling I got reading “An Enlightening Quiche”—a feeling that made me want to jump into its pages and settle myself right at home … if only for a short while!

Merci, Eva Pasco, c’est magnifique!

[Sojourner McConnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful mixture of friendship, secrets, and a bitter rivalry. It is an excellent book that will whet your appetite for more from Eva Pasco.

[Aliya DalRae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know what classic literature is. I can’t say I read a lot of it, but that’s not for lack of understanding. I simply get distracted by the Janet Evanovichs and J.R. Wards of the world. Not to say the authors I read don’t write incredible books – I LOVE them. And if I have a choice between “War & Peace” and the latest Black Dagger Brotherhood book...I think you get the picture.

When I picked up “An Enlightening Quiche,” I knew right away I was in for a challenge. There were no vampires. Not a single one. And there were big words that only a true wordsmith would dare to pen. Oh, but the story within! Once I accepted the fact that this was no ordinary book, I buckled down and prepared myself for a true literary experience.

Pasco has taken Contemporary Women’s Fiction into a whole new stratosphere, lifting it up to a standard that mere mortals dare not seek. Her characters are deep and troubled, and yet relatable in that they are just like the rest of us. Looking for answers. Looking for love. And when the worst happens, they rise above, just as we hope we would do in similar situations.

I can’t help but draw comparisons to J.K. Rowling’s “Casual Vacancy,” arguably, one of the best books I have ever read. (It didn’t have vampires in it either. Or wizards, for that matter. Just saying.) It’s a book that so many people dismissed, because they didn’t have the patience to read through the setup. Similarly, in “An Enlightening Quiche,” the setup is EVERYTHING, because once things start to happen – and believe me, Things Happen! – you will be thumbing through the beginning, looking for that reference, that hidden gem of a clue, that seemed unimportant at the time, but turns out to be oh, so vital!

Up past 1:00 am as the book neared its end, I have to say, I was awed. If you haven’t read “An Enlightening Quiche” yet, do yourself a favor. Pick up a copy. It is classic literature at its finest. Oh - and pass me “War & Peace,” why don’t ya?

[Susan Csoke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasant stories revolving around Lindsay and Augusta and their love for quiche. Thankyou Goodreads for this free book.

[Eva Pasco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by Joel R. Dennstedt for Readers' Favorite

https://readersfavorite.com/book-revi...

An Enlightening Quiche by Eva Pasco is, to shamelessly promote a theme, superbly rich and delicious. One cannot know if such writing comes naturally to the author, or if she suffers from the agony of meticulousness required to produce such an exquisite work. The end result hearkens to the classics for its resemblance to such deeply thoughtful plotting, characterization, and the gorgeous prose used in its exposition. With a fully contemporary use of wickedly biting cynicism - if bloodlessly cold - and terribly subtle sarcasm, keep your reading wits about you; the intelligence embedded in Pasco’s narrative is deeply satisfying. Although it is a sacrilege to attempt summarizing this book’s plot concisely, Augusta and Lindsay - two separate voices, two women in their forties - reveal a lifetime tale about friendship and family betrayal in and outside of a small Canuck-dominated town located in northern Rhode Island, which does the actual, intricately complex plot no justice whatsoever. Suffice it to say, I am not capable of rendering it due justice. But then, neither is Ms. Pasco in her own introductory blurb.

As a stylistic practice in relating the story behind An Enlightening Quiche, Eva Pasco accomplishes a most difficult task for a writer, and she accomplishes it to perfection: not only using alternating voices, but having each voice alternate between the present and a remembered, expository past. The effect of such stylistic mastery is to create – breaking from the culinary theme – a sensationally intricate and complex tapestry as pleasing to the reader’s mind as such artwork is to expert eyes. And though this work has been labeled simplistically as “contemporary women’s fiction,” make no mistake: this is a psychological, literary novel, and a wonderful, highly challenging masterpiece of writing.

*Since this reviewer is not on Goodreads, 'Readers' Favorite' recommends authors post their review and link back to it.

[Jennifer S. Alderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won an eBook copy of An Enlightening Quiche in a giveaway I’d entered because the story sounded intriguing. Contemporary women’s fiction is not a genre I usually read, so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. Honestly, it took me a chapter or so to get into the rhythm of the prose simply because I’m not used to reading such detailed descriptions of both the inner thoughts and external actions of the characters. I’m sure glad I stuck with it! Once I did understand the flow, the story sucked me in. I’ve never read a book before which left me feeling as if I’d gotten to know a large cast of characters so intimately.

The author’s ability to so adeptly portray life in a small town is a testament to her skill as a writer. Her story provides much insight into a small community in which residents are often bound together by familial relations and routine. She explores both the darker side - domestic violence, accidental shootings and extramarital affairs - as well as the positive side - support when tragedy strikes and the benefits of deeply-rooted friendships.

The thread throughout the novel is an annual quiche back-off, thus there is a lot of cooking going on. I wouldn’t recommend reading this on an empty stomach! The recipe which is so important to a central character is included in the Epilogue and sounds delicious. I plan on making it over the holidays.

I enjoyed reading this book!

[S.K. Wee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Felt like I was there

Very descriptive narrative. I felt like I could walk down the streets and actually have a conversation with some of the characters. This was an insightful look at relationships and friendships. How we see ourselves as opposed to how others see us and with a backdrop of familiar cuisine. Made me hungry for quiche but without the onion.

[Alan Vandervoort · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most writers put words together in an attempt to create an understandable story. Few writers are considered artists who bombard the pages with vivid colors of vocabulary. Eva Pasco is an artist. Her book, “An Enlightening Quiche,” is a gallery in a novel. The author emptied the dictionary with the words magically falling into a rich, intricate, perfect prose. The reader must stay sharp to catch all the metaphors and watch the turn of a phrase at the turn of every page. The abundance of pop culture and classical references could make Lorelei Gilmore’s head spin.

It is a rare talent to turn an interesting region of the country into one of the main characters. The regional character in “Quiche” is upstate Rhode Island. Did you know Rhode Island was large enough to have an “upstate?” The story is a window into the country’s industrial revolution and industrial decline along the Blackstone River through the lives of immigrants, townsfolk, and millworkers. The spirit of the people was still strong in spite of the inevitable demise of their largest employer.

At the beginning of the industrial age, farmers from Quebec looked for a better life in the mills than the rough terrain of Canadian agriculture. The French-Canadian culture lived on through the centuries and spiced the narrative with customs, phases, and cuisine - you can almost taste the poutine.

There is illumination from baked goods, old brick walls, and weed-riddled parking lots. This paints a background for the intrigue in a small town with lust, betrayal, adultery, broken friendships, tragedy, and redemption - your typical neighborhood. Intertwined in the history and culture is the heart of the novel – the explosive tales of secrets, regrets, and conflict. The book follows Lindsay and Augusta who come from different backgrounds. Each are involved and become witnesses to a turbulent time in the town. Augusta’s life is connected to the mill as well as the mysteries of earlier days that bring into question her linage. Lindsay’s story is the search for the story of the town, studying and relating the history that will eventually make her a participant rather than a mere observer.

Ms. Pasco brings clarity to the lives of the characters through emotional complexity to keep the reader engaged and connected. The townsfolk are struggling to cope with an uncertain future. The high expectations from a glorious past creates the turmoil of dealing with current reality. A tragic jolt change perspectives, allowing them to appreciate the treasures so close. Self-awareness, forgiveness, and the release of sorrows brings happiness through resiliency and enduring friendships. Lessons to be learned; a recipe for life.

[J.S. Frankel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this isn't a genre I generally read, An Enlightening Quiche is simply a masterpiece of verbal dexterity, insight into the lives and mores of a Canuckster-type town in northern Rhode Island, and an examination of the human heart.

To describe this novel in only a few paragraphs would be an injustice to Ms. Pasco, the novel's author. Superbly plotted, with full-blown characterizations, cynicism, a biting wit, and an incredibly refined command of the medium, Ms. Pasco has depicted a kind of modern-day Peyton Place, only more so.

We have Augusta and Lindsay, two women in their forties, revealing thoughts and impressions, secrets and lies. Both of them have their own voices, and by expertly combining past and present in the narrative, Ms. Pasco achieves what many other writers of contemporary fiction cannot--a portrait done in full, so complete that it steps off the page.

That is writing. And this is a novel that doesn't come along very often. Something enlightening, something thought provoking, and something very, very good.

Highly recommended. If I could give it ten stars, I would. It's that good.

[Joni Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hooked from the First Forkful to the Last Crumb
========================================
(I've received this book in return to an honest review from BookGobbler.com)

Sholem Aleichem is a Jewish author who lived in the 19th century. While he wrote mainly in Yiddish, the dying Central-Eastern-European Jewish language (nowadays spoken only by orthodox communities), you can still find some of his work translated to English and Hebrew. His novels, as well as short stories, were a mirror of the Jewish society of the Shtetls – the old towns that were mostly inhabited by Orthodox Jews. In the Shtetls, each and every one knew their neighbours’ most intimate secrets and affairs, as a substitutional material for our modern-age TV if you’d like. They were fertile grounds for emotional packed stories and tales, and Sholem Aleichem played them in his novels like a gifted fiddler.

Unknowingly, or maybe intentionally, Eva Pasco takes this form of mundane socio-politics, of petty rivalries and small love affairs, and transcribed them to the North American culture and society.

Beauchemins is a placid small town on the north end of Rhode Island. Following massive French-Canadian job seeking immigration during the 19th and early 20th centuries, it is also a French-Canadian enclave, in the old American north. Half the population speaks French, and the other half uses French-Canadian urban phrases, which paints the town with unique fairy-talish colours, amidst its New England entourage.

The story is one of love and friendship; hate and rivalry; camaraderie and competition; all in the simplest aspect of la vie quotidian – our everyday lives.

The story is told by two adversary heroines: Augusta – the town’s ultimate seducer, and Lindsay, who comes to town to establish the local Mill’s museum. The story uses the 1st body, giving each of the frenemies a chance to express their own narrative without an ‘outside’ storyteller. In a sense, Lindsay plays the role of the outsider, digging into the town’s history for her own research and in order to forget about her failed marriage, while at the same time unveiling the town’s closeted skeletons. Augusta very much represents these skeletons: the untamed, never settled-down, town’s beauty, but also the delicate broken-home refugee, who is always on guard, with ice running in her veins, covering secrets of her own which run deeper than her well covered “Port coloured birthmark”

It all drains to a quiche competition, annually held by the town’s luncheonette, in which Augusta and Estelle, best friends, compete.

Let me start by saying: don’t read this novel on an empty stomach. Pasco’s talent for imagery will have you craving for a piece of quiche (I actually asked my wife to make one!). The author’s language is impeccable, she uses the full-scope of the English dictionary with playful phrasing to convey the storyline. Many times, the reader is expected to think and deduct for himself, not being served “the quiche” on a silver platter. Pasco treats her readers as intelligent, and spares us nothing in terms of figurative mind puzzles:
“cocooned inside the insecurity blanket of matrimonial bliss…” “…family would reap the benefits of having a cleaning lady come in once a weak. Still the dirty laundry accumulated…” and “…only I could pack a peck of pickled pluck whenever tears ventured to surface!” are just a small nosh as an example.

A word of warning! With idioms from the full spectrum of American culture, such as “jalopies” and “Miller time” the English playfulness can get rather rich to one’s taste. There was more than one occasion, when I wished Ms. Pasco would get to the point, and more than a few junctures where I had to re-read a paragraph to find the right beau-chemins (pretty roads in French).

If you love romance, if you enjoy having to think as reader and if you are an English-language enthusiast – grab your copy today. I can only reprimand Ms. Pasco for the book’s blurb and cover, both which doesn’t live up to the majestic content. I was hooked from the first forkful to the last crumb.

You can get your free copy here (run until 31st Jan)

[Bookish · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Story You Can Really Sink Your Teeth Into.

Just the right proportions of history, secrets, adultery, passion, and rivalry are mixed together to form the wonderful sensation that is 'An Enlightening Quiche'. Rich in detail and sassy narration, Eva Pasco paints a portrait of small-town life that rings true for anyone who has lived in such a place. On the surface, everything is clean and just-right, but underneath there is a surging, heaving mass of emotion, ambition and self-interest that immerses the reader in the characters' lives.

Eva Pasco's writing is descriptive and quirky, reflecting the French-Canadian idiom of the fictional town of Beauchemins, Rhode Island. The reader is drawn into the story through the parallel narrations of the lead characters, making them them feel as though they are a one of the townsfolk and leading them to decide for themselves who is honest or justified in their actions as the story progresses. Pasco's humour comes through, resulting in chuckles and smirks as one reads. Yet there are also moments of shock and sadness, and of a strong sensation of more than one character wishing things had been different.

Having spent some time in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, the French-Canadian nostalgia for all things Quebequois has been beautifully captured by Pasco. The occasional exclamation of "Tabarnak!" and the consistent use of French names for even the most mundane of foods - "un croque-monsieur" for a grilled ham and cheese sandwich - adds authenticity and depth to the characters. Beauchemins actually made me a little homesick for my own part of French Canada. Would someone please deliver me a poutine?

This honorary Canuck gives 'An Enlightening Quiche' 5 stars, not only for it's fabulous story, but also for its charm and authenticity. Beauchemins - ca vaut le visite!

[Roy Murry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Augusta and Lindsay come from two different worlds. Augusta born and bred in Beauchemin, a small Rhode Island town, and Lindsay, a historian, who resides in Boston, Massachusetts, cross paths because of Beauchemin's French Canadian historical past.

They tell their stories in alternating chapters in somewhat of a soliloquy style with discourses and bantering monologs about past lovers, friends, family, and the people of Beauchemin's. Augusta is an administrator in the town's main factory. Lindsay changes residence hired to investigate into the historical value of it.

Their storytelling was somewhat lengthy at times but entertaining and insightful into the town's array of characters whom Augusta knew personally, a few biblically. Lindsay, in her research, finds a new home from the chaotic Boston lifestyle. Both stories converge on Augusta's childhood friend Estelle's prominent family that owns the factory and a young child's life-changing tragedy.

The bedroom tales, a disaster in a child's life, a Quiche Contest, and Estelle and Augusta's hidden past, Ms. Pasco details with comedy, drama, and enlightenment into the past of relocated hard working Canucks. Her writing is intelligent and easy to digest after getting into the rhythm of her sometimes-elongated sentences.

This Quiche was humanizing from a woman's point of view.

[Suzann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Tapestry of Culture, History, and Blue Ribbon Quiche

A review of Eva Pasco's new novel, AN ENLIGHTENING QUICHE

For a deep, warm read, settle in with a cup of cafetière a piston and a creamy slice of hot quiche, and retreat to the inner sanctum of Eva Pasco’s Proustian search for the meaning of family in the Rhode Island mill town of Beauchemins.

Weaving together synchronicity and history, karma and chance, Pasco reveals the breathtaking story of two women living in a tightly knit French Canadian community – Augusta, a Canuck native and Lindsay, a journalist from Cambridge, Mass. As Lindsay probes the captivating culture of Beauchemins, both women explore their roots and make discoveries that change their lives forever.

An Enlightening Quiche is a study in both the details of what makes a life story, and the big picture of how our lives are affected by those around us. A non-judgmental look at what lies beneath the surface, this first-person narrative embraces cultural differences and varied historical timelines to seek the ties that bind us together as one human race.

[Carole P. Roman · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Cosmopolitan! Pedigreed! Privileged!" cries Augusta as her rival arrives. "Vamp! Temptress! Femme Fatale!" Observes Lindsay. Little does small town native Augusta know, she's been judged and condemned by a writer from Boston named Lindsay. Lines are drawn and the competition is on.
Wickedly sharp, bitingly sarcastic, Eva Pasco creates an unforgettable novel about life in a small town. Charming Beauchemins, Rhode Island is stuck in a time warp. The same families have lived there for years. Secrets lurk in the shadows, and Pasco slowly reveals them with cleverly written prose. Addicting as the delicious quiche she describes, Pasco's writing is a treat to be savored and enjoyed. I will be back for a second helping.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unwavering Friendship what was lost has been found. The bond between two long time friends, can it stand the test of time? Secrets, infidelity, laughter, Love, family coming together in the tough of times and in the best of times. You forget this small, close-knit Community is a Fictional Town of Beauchemins, RI, as it draws you into the lives of Augusta, Estelle and Lindsay during this amazing journey of friendship. Eva Pasco has done an amazing job intertwining the reader and characters in the fabulous book of An Enlightening Quiche.

[Cindy Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in the classic style, this story reminds me of Dickens. I am enjoying each tidbit as she develops the characters.. I feel like I am a visitor to the town rubbing elbows! The story unfolds with a walk down main street Beauchemins and a description of all the shops and their proprietors.

Lindsay Metcalf is invited to the town in the hopes she will be able to write an article that will make certain the local mill will forever be spared a date with a wrecking ball. She is just coming to terms with the death of her mother and has given a marriage ultimatum to her boyfriend. Time is fleeting, she now realizes and she wants to adopt a child before it is too late.

Augusta Bergeron is a lifetime resident of the small town. She is about the same age as Lindsay and is also hearing the clock tick. Augusta is the town vixen. She was raised by her Aunt and Uncle when her mother abandoned her to them. She has pieced together her idea of who her mother was from small snippets of rumors. The only true fact she has is that her mother left on a Harley. No longer believing the fantasy heroine ideal she created in school for her mom, she has decided the woman was "loose" and she is following in her footsteps.

The story is related by both of these characters so we receive a well rounded view of what is happening in this small town. The work to save the mill is tied in importance with the annual Quiche bake-off. Augusta, having just obtained her mother's recipe has decided to join the event and give her best friend a run for her money!

Secrets, strange bedfellows, rumors, and romance all combine to give us a book that will remain in your mind for a long time.

Kudos

[Miranda Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hope you're hungry because An Enlightening Quiche is a book you will want to sink your teeth into! Eva Pasco has done a magnificent job with this novel. Her descriptions are so rich and detailed I found myself falling right through the pages and into the French-Canadian town of Beauchemins, surrounded by the amazing history, places, and people. The story centers around Augusta, long-time native of this historic mill town, and the outsider, Lindsay.

I really loved the characters. Flawed and believable, the charcters were wonderful. The women were strong, independent, and, at times, snarky. The friendships and relationships in An Enlightening Quiche were both beautiful and refreshingly realistic.

While a quiche bake-off is a headline in the novel, the pages are filled with secrets, mysteries, and gossip under the facade of a simple and steady small-town life. The strength, bonds, and sincerity of the women will have you both laughing and crying throughout the pages. This is an excellent story and you should definitely add Eva Pasco's An Enlightening Quiche to your reading list!

I should add, there's an amazing bonus in the epilogue: the quiche recipe! How great is that? I thought this was a wonderful touch by Eva

[Cyrene Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a hard book for me to really get into and enjoy. Although the book is really well written with engaging characters and storyline, the word play, the puns, and the descriptions were very distracting for me and disrupted the flow of the story. The Canadian-French connection in the book is a bit lost on me – so that is a connection I never made. This is also written in the first person narrative and switches between the main characters – which worked fine, but within those narratives, it almost felt like it would switch to second person for a paragraph or so. Intelligent writing? Yes. But for me, it was like a roast that was left in the oven just a few minutes too long. But once you get used to the writing style, you find an original and engaging story that leaps over its own hurdles.

With all that said, if you can get beyond those aspects, you’ll find a very original storyline with strong women and life in this small town. Between saving the local mill and the quiche bake-off, you will find friendship, betrayal and skeletons in closets with mysteries you are eager to solve. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 1/2 Stars

[R.M. Gauthier · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible story from start to finish. The way Pasco weaves the story around a winning heirloom quiche recipe is nothing short of spectacular. I loved everything about this novel from the characters, to the world, she made everything believable. There is not one moment in this story where I questioned what was happening or who these characters were. Well done, Eva Pasco.

The story follows the lives of two women in their forties who have been rivals since their youth. A third women's outside perspective of the two. We are privy to the mysteries of their youth as the story unfolds, all the while they struggle to figure out where things went wrong and how to fix them. All secrets from the past are swirled together making the women live, regret and learn, before ultimately forgiving, loving and moving forward with their lives.

[P.J. Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a journey!

The only regret I have is that I couldn’t give this book the deserved time. This is one of those books you have to read with calm without any interruption, enjoying the fine nuances and the outstanding prose with which the author describes with vibrant tones each of the characters.
It doesn’t matter whether they are just background actors or main characters, their personality sticks out in their full complexity, giving the reader the impression of knowing each of them for a long time.
I got transported into that small-town reality where your business is everybody’s business too, and that brought me (dearly) back to my youth.
For a person who, like me, has English as a second language, it might get a bit difficult to read, but this doesn’t make it less enjoyable.
Well done, I can't see the time to read more from this author!

[Kester Nucum]

I was given a signed copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I personally couldn't get into this book because I realized that literary fiction is not a genre that really clicks with me, especially since I am a teen. Although I had to DNF in the first 100 pages, I do hope that someone else may try out this book and enjoy it.

[Toni Kief · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author has a masterful command of language, I often was so involved with the craft of a sentence that I would lose my place. Interesting story of small town, dysfunction and failing friendships which all comes together with a beautiful recipe.

[Cathy McGough · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sheer delight from start to finish! More please Eva!

[Rose English]

Book 40 of my Reading Challenge

Sorry but this has not been rated purely because I read halfway and gave up. It really was not what I expected. Maybe I will re-visit at a later date?

[Julia Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purchased solely for the quirky cover and title, I had no idea what to expect from this book and went into it blind. For the first chapter or so, I was unsure if I would be able to continue. I'm British, and as such, found the very "small town America" quality of the writing a little hard to grasp, but I persevered because I was genuinely interested in the characters.

The tale the author tells is of small things, petty rivalries, jealousies and love affairs, in a somewhat insular, backwater town deep in New England, America. But the author somehow makes those small things very big things. Important things that you begin to care passionately about yourself.

They were many things I liked about this book, and one small thing I didn't. The author sprinkled tales of other characters liberally throughout, a little too liberally. In the first chapter alone, there were dozens of characters names and stories thrown at the reader. Characters that were in some cases never mentioned again, but were just there to add background colour. This is fine, in small doses, but the sheer amount of detours the author took us down left me, the reader, baffled and floundering. Each time the author rambled off down a blind alley of reminiscences, anecdotes and backstories, I had to go back over the pages to where the main plot had left off, refresh my memory as to where exactly we were, then flip forward to resume reading. This interrupted the flow of the plot quite considerably, and after a while annoyed me so much, I must admit to letting my eyes skim over those parts.

But this is just a personal opinion, and the author mustn't feel this is in any way a criticism of her, her book or her writing, it isn't. I tend to be a greedy, speedy reader, gobbling down the plot and not wanting anything to get in my way. To me, a plot is like traffic, more enjoyable if it's always flowing smoothly and in one direction only.

Now onto all the wonderful things I did like about this book. It was filled with fascinating, three-dimensional characters who seem to live and breath on the page, the dialogue between them was honest and believable, a trick many authors never seem to achieve. The plot was nicely paced, with flashbacks along the way to flesh out the characters and the circumstances they discovered themselves in. Occasionally, these flashbacks were a little confusing, and sometimes I was left wondering what time period I was in, but on the whole they worked well.

The author's talent as a wordsmith shines through every line, it was a pleasure to read such an old-fashioned, prose heavy book, and it was rather reminiscent of the classics I read in my youth - Dickens, Austin and the Brontes.

Technically, it was perfect too. And I did not spot a single typo, punctuation, grammar or formatting error.

I didn't like the main character, finding her questionable morals a bit of a turnoff but found myself rooting for her anyway, a true mark of a talented writer is the ability to make you care about characters you don't actually like.

Her descriptions of the town these characters inhabit were fascinating and engrossing, drawing you into the smallness of their world, the little things that affected the social order of their community, from gossip at the convenience store to the annual best quiche competition run by the local eatery.

Overall, a novel of the utmost quality which I enjoyed immensely, despite the odd little niggle, and I look forward to reading more of this author, fully expecting her literary star to shine brightly and scale the heights.

[Danielle Urban · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Enlightening Quiche by Eva Pasco is a contemporary fiction novel set for women everywhere. The drama of the two ladies inside is enough to keep readers, like myself, interested. A rivalry between bakers is fun to follow. The plot quickly escalates. It grew more intense with every page. There was a lot of depth added to this tale. This made it rich and more realistic. I found it quirky yet emotionally engaging to read. Each woman has something to add and take from this story. I love anything that digs into food, community, and secrets. The writer easily gave me the side of each protagonist. I could figure what each one was thinking. Their perspectives showed me how they might proceed with what was happening. It made it easier to follow their actions, and it made me feel like I was there witnessing it all. People can jump to conclusions all the time, but overcoming the obstacles and differences made this a good book. Overall, I would recommend it to other readers. 

I received this copy from the publisher. This is my voluntary review.

[Jennie Rosenblum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me a little time to get pulled into the story. I think it was because of the unique writing style. Instead of the recent adaptation of least amount of words to convey a thought – this author expands and enriches each sentence with adorning words to decorate the thought. However, once I just let my mind go and enjoy the wording and phrases I was pulled in and pleased with the story.

The consistent presence of Quiche runs throughout the book and I believe accentuates the story parts. Just like all fine quiches have base ingredients that remain stable but the other ingredients that change the entire taste of each quiche, the story has the base of families but the variety of each and their dealings makes each one different. My advice would be to savor this book slowly to enjoy all the flavors.

[Pamela Allegretto · Rating 5 out of 5]

It only takes a few paragraphs to fall into the rhythm of Eva Pasco’s clever, well-crafted writing style, then the reader is off and running on a wild romp with well-fleshed out, quirky characters in the small French-Canadian mill town of Beauchemins, Rhode Island. Both thumbs up!

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a few chapters to get into but once I did I loved it. At times it felt like a lot of detail but then I got caught up again and enjoyed the twists and turns of the characters lives. A great read.