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Starting from Scratch
Why is someone who just defended her doctoral dissertation still wasting her time at her childhood home, two months after her mother’s funeral, making coq au vin and osso buco? Olivia Tschetter, the youngest of four high-achieving South Dakotan siblings, is not returning to “normal”—or to graduate school— quickly enough to suit her family. She wants only to bury herself in her mother’s kitchen, finding solace in their shared passion for cooking.Threatened with grief counseling, Olivia accepts a temporary position at the local Meals on Wheels, where she stumbles upon some unfinished business from her mother’s past—and a dark family secret. Startling announcements from two siblings also challenge the family’s status quo. The last thing she needs is a deepening romantic interest in a close but platonic (she thought) friend.But while Olivia’s mother is gone, her memory and spirit continue to engage Olivia, who finds herself daring to speak when she would never have spoken before. Told with humor and compassion, Starting from Scratch explores the shifting of family dynamics in the wake of shattering loss and the healing power of cooking.
336 pages, Perfect Paperback
First published July 17, 2010
10 people are currently reading
2437 people want to read
About the author
Susan Gilbert-Collins
1 book30 followersBorn and raised in South Dakota, Susan Gilbert-Collins studied English at Oberlin College and holds an M.A. in English as a Second Language from the University of Minnesota. While she enjoyed teaching international students and adult immigrants, she now freelances as a technical writer in order to have more time to focus on her first love, fiction. She lives with her husband and young son in Rochester, New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
November 17, 2011
Susan Gilbert-Collins has captured the grieving process after the loss of one's mother quite accurately.
This is the story of a husband and four adult siblings experiencing that grief in their own individual ways from the perspective of the youngest sibling in the family. Each has their moments of strength and weakness...and each has a surprise that they are nervous to share with the rest of the family. All of that, and throw in the mystery of the elderly estranged friend of the deceased mother and you've got a page-turner.
I laughed out loud and had a lump in my throat throughout the book. A very enjoyable read!
This is the story of a husband and four adult siblings experiencing that grief in their own individual ways from the perspective of the youngest sibling in the family. Each has their moments of strength and weakness...and each has a surprise that they are nervous to share with the rest of the family. All of that, and throw in the mystery of the elderly estranged friend of the deceased mother and you've got a page-turner.
I laughed out loud and had a lump in my throat throughout the book. A very enjoyable read!
September 19, 2012
A slowcooked comfort of a book--
this is a story that takes its time, and is better for it.
Equal parts a study in grief, a celebration of family, and the reality of growing up, reading this book was like a dining experience in which the chef suggests something off the menu that completely hits the spot. Best of all, the ending manages to be satisfying without the bittersweet, purposefully leaving room for the reader to take hold of what happens after the last page.
It's so dense; there is as much light as there is darkness, and through it all, the author skillfully encapsulates emotions and interactions that deeply resonate:
"This is how people live," Olivia said out loud, and felt, not for the first time, that her family had not remotely prepared her to grasp the brokenness of the rest of the world. (252)
Olivia waited until the familiarity of each shape had hurt her as much as it could, until there were no surprises left in the generous bottom loop of a g or the sight of all those f's and h's, t's and l's leaning like top-heavy trees over lesser letters that crouched below-- the vowels especially vulnerable, flattened in the breeze, utterly dependent on context for their identity. (93)
She kept talking in spite of herself, in spite of the uncertainty that now yawned before her like a cave-- she talked because she absolutely refused to step forward into its shadow. (240)
this is a story that takes its time, and is better for it.
Equal parts a study in grief, a celebration of family, and the reality of growing up, reading this book was like a dining experience in which the chef suggests something off the menu that completely hits the spot. Best of all, the ending manages to be satisfying without the bittersweet, purposefully leaving room for the reader to take hold of what happens after the last page.
It's so dense; there is as much light as there is darkness, and through it all, the author skillfully encapsulates emotions and interactions that deeply resonate:
"This is how people live," Olivia said out loud, and felt, not for the first time, that her family had not remotely prepared her to grasp the brokenness of the rest of the world. (252)
Olivia waited until the familiarity of each shape had hurt her as much as it could, until there were no surprises left in the generous bottom loop of a g or the sight of all those f's and h's, t's and l's leaning like top-heavy trees over lesser letters that crouched below-- the vowels especially vulnerable, flattened in the breeze, utterly dependent on context for their identity. (93)
She kept talking in spite of herself, in spite of the uncertainty that now yawned before her like a cave-- she talked because she absolutely refused to step forward into its shadow. (240)
January 26, 2011
This book takes place in Brookings in 1996. Yes, that's right, Brookings. The year will become important in a few sentences. I think I enjoyed the novel more than the average reader because of the setting. There are a few notable items to highlight in the book: (1) There's a shoutout to Mr. Hovey and Mr. Walder, two of the best English teachers ever. (2) Local haunts appear, but under different names (Casper's is cleverly disguised as "Jasper's", but their tortellini remains the same. (3) The story is actually pretty compelling, too, so it isn't just fun for locals. However, there is a glaring issue that no book review can ignore (even one of my quick little rants). The book takes place in 1996, yet people are continually ordering fried chicken from the Arctic Circle. Two major issues: the Arctic Circle was long out of business by 1996, and no one in their right mind would go to the Arctic Circle and order anything other than a burger.
September 2, 2010
I enjoyed every minute I spent reading this book. There were times I wanted to shake Olivia--probably felt like her family did. But I had to keep reminding myself that everyone grieves differently. I, too,unexpectedly lost a parent at that age, though reading her story did not "bring back memories" or make me think of myself and my experiences at all. I also marked all the recipes, and am especially looking forward to making Chocolate Puddle.
March 6, 2015
Hmmm. I am ambivalent by this book. At times I wanted to pick it up and read about where it was heading. At other times I didn't even want to pick it up as I found it so irritating. Focusing on an able academic family and our main character, Olivia, the youngest in the family, is shattered when her mother dies suddenly and unexpectedly. Supposedly she can't cope with this loss and part of the story, which I could not believe in, is that Olivia has just successfully completed her PhD but she does not tell the the family that she has completed the degree requirements, and they continue harangue her to complete all her work towards her PhD, weeks after she had succeeded. Olivia decides her healing will come from trying to fill the role of her mother through cooking and continuing with a cooking newsletter that her mother had established. Unfortunately she is so lacking in confidence that her character seems more like that of a teenager rather than a postgrad student. Disappointing read for me.
October 15, 2017
This is a mostly believable emerging-from-grief story that includes the kind of character development I appreciate in a novel. Once Olivia has someone other than herself to focus on -- Mrs. McKinney, her pregnant sister, her famous-but-flawed sister, Meals On Wheels job -- her grief from the loss of her mother and best friend begins to move to the background of her life and allows her to begin the move forward into the future. The coincidences that put Olivia in the house that connects her mother, her sister and two strangers was a bit of a stretch, but this is fiction, after all, not really life.
The one issue that sort of grated on me was that everyone seemed to accept that 2 months of grieving an unexpected death was sort of the limit? Really? And Olivia's father, who has lost his wife of 30+ years, is among those intolerant of Olivia's struggle and yet, I've known spouses that took years to recover from such a loss. Moving on is often a heart-wrenching struggle, yet everyone in this novel seems to have mastered their grief, except Olivia. Really?
The one issue that sort of grated on me was that everyone seemed to accept that 2 months of grieving an unexpected death was sort of the limit? Really? And Olivia's father, who has lost his wife of 30+ years, is among those intolerant of Olivia's struggle and yet, I've known spouses that took years to recover from such a loss. Moving on is often a heart-wrenching struggle, yet everyone in this novel seems to have mastered their grief, except Olivia. Really?
September 21, 2012
Book #25 for 2012 - I really liked this book about Olivia, the youngest of four children who completed her doctorate on the very same day that her mother dies of a stroke. What happens after she goes home and gets "stuck" for a while due to her grief and her inability to get along with her siblings is fascinating. She really comes into her own and her relationship with her siblings and her father improve tremendously throughout the book. There is also (of course) a family secret that she comes to find out. This book is extremely well written in that the author is descriptive without being boring and monotonous. Plus, Olivia is a great cook and there are fun cooking references throughout!
September 2, 2011
I really wanted to give this book 5 stars, but I just couldn't, nostalgia was why I gave it 4. The author attended the same church as I did growing up: I knew of her and I knew her family. The street names and places throughout the book are places I have fond memories of, where else is there a touchdown Jesus? Many characters in the book share the names of people I knew in real life, maybe it was coincidence but the familiarity made me enjoy the book more. Overall I felt the story was OK but not great. The beginning felt too much like it was trying to explain everything.
September 7, 2010
After successfully defending her dissertation, Olivia Tschetter finds out there was an accident at home, her Mother fell from a stool and is in the hospital. Two days later, she dies and Olivia hides herself in the family kitchen, cooking her way through her grief and trying to finish her Mother's cooking newsletter.
This is an engrossing little book about family, loss, food and finding your voice. I enjoyed it.
This is an engrossing little book about family, loss, food and finding your voice. I enjoyed it.
Read
October 10, 2012I got to page 37 and came to the conclusion that this book is not for me. Bore. Ring!
May 29, 2024
This took me a long time to finish. I didn't hold my attention. The stakes were low. There wasn't a truly good reason for the protagonist to keep her doctoral accomplishment a secret. The climax was reactive, meaning the protagonist was simply reacting to things that happened to other people. Notice my use of the past tense: "happened." The protagonist's agency only came into play as she was trying to find out what happened to other people in the past. (Yes, the entire murder mystery genre is centered around finding out what happened to other people in the past. But in a murder mystery, the stakes are high. If you don't catch the killer, they could strike again. If the killer learns that the investigator is getting close to finding them, the investigator could be killed. Life or death stakes.) Even when she learns what happened, these events have little effect on her life or the lives of others.
Trigger warning: there is discussion of sexual misconduct in the last third of the book.
The pros: you can relate to the family dynamics even if you don't have all the same characters in your own family. If you like cooking, you'll enjoy all the talk of food and the recipes.
Read this if you want a light-hearted, no-pressure read that won't creep you out or rile you up. There is good writing in it.
Trigger warning: there is discussion of sexual misconduct in the last third of the book.
The pros: you can relate to the family dynamics even if you don't have all the same characters in your own family. If you like cooking, you'll enjoy all the talk of food and the recipes.
Read this if you want a light-hearted, no-pressure read that won't creep you out or rile you up. There is good writing in it.
October 3, 2017
Olivia Tschetter, the youngest of four bright successful hardworking children is in a rut. She has successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, but is keeping her success from the rest of her family. On the day she defended her dissertation, her mother succumbed to a sudden stroke, leaving the rest of the family searching to fill a void, none more than Olivia.
Instead of reveling in her success and finding a great job in Academia, Olivia is back home in South Dakota, volunteering her time with Meals on Wheels, completing her mother's cooking newsletter and bribing her family with homemade wheels, which in her opinion do not hold a candle to her mother's efforts.
While she is at it, Olivia uncovers some family secrets from the past that being the youngest, she was not privy to before now. Told with humor and compassion this novel explores the shifting of family dynamics in the wake of a loss and the healing and cathartic power of cooking.
Instead of reveling in her success and finding a great job in Academia, Olivia is back home in South Dakota, volunteering her time with Meals on Wheels, completing her mother's cooking newsletter and bribing her family with homemade wheels, which in her opinion do not hold a candle to her mother's efforts.
While she is at it, Olivia uncovers some family secrets from the past that being the youngest, she was not privy to before now. Told with humor and compassion this novel explores the shifting of family dynamics in the wake of a loss and the healing and cathartic power of cooking.
October 22, 2023
Today I turned the last page of this sweet book. It sat unread on my bookshelf for how many years, I am not sure. I am glad I finally picked it up.
When we first meet this family, the mother has just died unexpectedly. The children are all grown, very connected, but also disconnected. They struggle with the death of their mother, while at the same time dealing with their own issues.
The story is told through the family dynamics. And, interestingly, through a cooking newsletter, that their mother had written. Olivia, one of the daughters, is determined to finish the last newsletter that was left unwritten when her mother died. The newsletter has always been a soft place to land for the subscribers, and Olivia wants to do the last newsletter justice.
Olivia also spends time at her family home, helping her father deal with the death of his wife. She takes a job at a local meals on and the recipients of the meals become integral characters in the book as well.
This book is about family, love, and food. The three often go together. This week, was so much heartache going on in the world, this book was a soft place for me to land. I am glad I found it on my shelf.
When we first meet this family, the mother has just died unexpectedly. The children are all grown, very connected, but also disconnected. They struggle with the death of their mother, while at the same time dealing with their own issues.
The story is told through the family dynamics. And, interestingly, through a cooking newsletter, that their mother had written. Olivia, one of the daughters, is determined to finish the last newsletter that was left unwritten when her mother died. The newsletter has always been a soft place to land for the subscribers, and Olivia wants to do the last newsletter justice.
Olivia also spends time at her family home, helping her father deal with the death of his wife. She takes a job at a local meals on and the recipients of the meals become integral characters in the book as well.
This book is about family, love, and food. The three often go together. This week, was so much heartache going on in the world, this book was a soft place for me to land. I am glad I found it on my shelf.
June 7, 2020
Olivia is home. Defended her doctoral paper (probably wrong term, dissertation?) successfully, just has to make recommended changes and file the paperwork. She's going to announce it at a family gathering, but her mother suddenly passes away and all plans are off.
Her mom publishes a food-related newsletter to a sizable community and Olivia takes on the task of completing this last newsletter-in-the-works. Olivia doesn't have here mother's confidence but she plows ahead, while simultaneously dealing with a pregnant older sister, a surprisingly recent marriage of her older brother, a family secret concerning the other older sister, the surprising discovery that an elderly woman once was friend of her Mom's but due to some mysterious falling out, became estranged.
Wish a couple of the story lines had fleshed out a bit more.....
Her mom publishes a food-related newsletter to a sizable community and Olivia takes on the task of completing this last newsletter-in-the-works. Olivia doesn't have here mother's confidence but she plows ahead, while simultaneously dealing with a pregnant older sister, a surprisingly recent marriage of her older brother, a family secret concerning the other older sister, the surprising discovery that an elderly woman once was friend of her Mom's but due to some mysterious falling out, became estranged.
Wish a couple of the story lines had fleshed out a bit more.....
August 16, 2018
Everything about this book was just Meh. Even the recipes! Theres a scene with Olivia and Harry in a diner, it's a big moment, everyone is raving about the fried green tomatoes and pork chops... you'd think the major foodie elements of the story would be the recipes you get, but no. I can't even tell you how many times I read a page or two and then thought "what?!" I had a really hard time believing anyone with any sort of culinary experience and writing a column on the side would volunteer for the Meals on Wheels and shy away from the kitchen!
November 15, 2019
This is a nice, sweet read about family and how individual family members deal with the death of their mother.
The main character is Olivia who is the baby of the family. After her mother’s unexpected death she goes back home which is something she never thought she would do. She has a secret she can’t share with her family. You can’t help but love Olivia.
I found myself getting teary eyed while reading Starting from Scratch but, also laughing out loud moments.
I liked the recipes that are interspersed throughout the book and reading them certainly made me want to try making them.
The main character is Olivia who is the baby of the family. After her mother’s unexpected death she goes back home which is something she never thought she would do. She has a secret she can’t share with her family. You can’t help but love Olivia.
I found myself getting teary eyed while reading Starting from Scratch but, also laughing out loud moments.
I liked the recipes that are interspersed throughout the book and reading them certainly made me want to try making them.
July 19, 2020
This was a book on my TBR shelf. A mother dies suddenly and a family is left to pick up the pieces she has left behind. One of them is a cooking newsletter that she would send out. Her daughter Olivia tries to piece it together and add some things to finish the final newsletter from Vivian. While doing this she finds out many things about her family she as the youngest never knew. Two sisters and a brother attempt to put back this family broken from the loss of their mother.
April 15, 2025
Cooking up a life for ourselves is hard without a recipe! Grief comes to us all, but somehow it's always an unexpected ingredient. Olivia's attempts to cope with her mother's loss lead to all kinds of unexpected twists--you'll be rooting for her too! Full of action, humor, and hope for the future in a unique South Dakota setting.
February 22, 2019
I read this book back when it came out and it's haunted me since because I loved it but for the life of me I could NOT remember it's title! So happy to have come across it at the library and I'm going to reread it at once.
November 25, 2019
Easy read with some jarring notes that could be more smoothly integrated into the whole story. However, overall it's a complex portrait of grief and family secrets with some recipes that I'm definitely going to try out myself
September 18, 2022
A very sentimental, sweet, funny, intelligent read! I felt like Olivia was speaking to me as a friend/confidant throughout the story. And the recipes were a great addition. Made me want to try them all!
December 24, 2017
"she felt free, she felt relieved as you can only feel when you have wrecked yourself on the rocks and don't have to worry about navigating anymore"
December 3, 2017
I suppose this was trying to be an emotionally intense book, but it just missed the mark for me. I didn't feel much of anything for the characters.
June 18, 2018
Sweet yet funny, family relationships, moving on, letting go and the subtle way siblings interact
Good read!
Good read!
September 30, 2018
I enjoyed this book, the recipes added a bit of fun!
July 28, 2019
Thought-provoking. Ended too abruptly with too many hanging threads, though.
February 28, 2020
An enjoyable read about surviving loss and the healing power of cooking.
October 5, 2021
It was very slow to start with, but it had a good ending.
April 25, 2024
Thoroughly enjoyed it.
March 19, 2015
Deb’s Dozen: Olivia and her family, plus friends—consumed by grief, consoled by cooking.
Olivia Tschetter has just successfully defended her doctoral dissertation when she learns her mother, Vivian, has died. Vivian was the only one who knew that Olivia was going to do her defense, and now she can’t tell her mother that she succeeded.
At home, not talking about her studies, but cooking up a storm—Olivia tries to cope with her grief. Her family suggests counseling to get her out of the house, so instead Olivia takes her sister Annie’s place at the local Meals on Wheels and becomes a part-time volunteer. Along the way, while delivering meals, she meets an old friend of Vivian’s. And along the way we get to know the rest of the family as well as the family secrets.
Susan Gilbert-Collins writes in a very erudite fashion as she leads us through Olivia’s story. She takes us inside Olivia’s mind—we read her thoughts as she’s thinking them—almost in stream-of-consciousness style. Olivia, obviously well-educated (she’s a Ph.D. after all even if her family doesn’t know), also loves cooking. We’re treated to some delicious recipes as Olivia works her way through her grief.
You will find Olivia’s story compelling. I enjoyed reading about the foibles of the people at Meals on Wheels and their clients. I could understand her thoughts and reluctance to deal with Vivian’s death. When my mom died, I had to change her room out immediately—to keep busy so I could survive my grief at her loss. Olivia finds being busy a solution too—keeping occupied with Meals on Wheels and with cooking.
Being inside a character’s head so deeply makes for a challenging, but rewarding, read. Four stars.
Susan Gilbert-Collins gave me a copy of Starting From Scratch in exchange for my candid review.
Olivia Tschetter has just successfully defended her doctoral dissertation when she learns her mother, Vivian, has died. Vivian was the only one who knew that Olivia was going to do her defense, and now she can’t tell her mother that she succeeded.
At home, not talking about her studies, but cooking up a storm—Olivia tries to cope with her grief. Her family suggests counseling to get her out of the house, so instead Olivia takes her sister Annie’s place at the local Meals on Wheels and becomes a part-time volunteer. Along the way, while delivering meals, she meets an old friend of Vivian’s. And along the way we get to know the rest of the family as well as the family secrets.
Susan Gilbert-Collins writes in a very erudite fashion as she leads us through Olivia’s story. She takes us inside Olivia’s mind—we read her thoughts as she’s thinking them—almost in stream-of-consciousness style. Olivia, obviously well-educated (she’s a Ph.D. after all even if her family doesn’t know), also loves cooking. We’re treated to some delicious recipes as Olivia works her way through her grief.
You will find Olivia’s story compelling. I enjoyed reading about the foibles of the people at Meals on Wheels and their clients. I could understand her thoughts and reluctance to deal with Vivian’s death. When my mom died, I had to change her room out immediately—to keep busy so I could survive my grief at her loss. Olivia finds being busy a solution too—keeping occupied with Meals on Wheels and with cooking.
Being inside a character’s head so deeply makes for a challenging, but rewarding, read. Four stars.
Susan Gilbert-Collins gave me a copy of Starting From Scratch in exchange for my candid review.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews