The Kitchen Daughter

by Jael McHenry

After the unexpected death of her parents, painfully shy and sheltered 26-year-old Ginny Selvaggio seeks comfort in cooking from family recipes. But the rich, peppery scent of her Nonna’s soup draws an unexpected visitor into the kitchen: the ghost of Nonna herself, dead for twenty years, who appears with a cryptic warning (“do no let her…”) before vanishing like steam from a cooling dish.

A haunted kitchen isn’t Ginny’s only challenge. Her domineering sister, Amanda, (aka “Demanda”) insists on selling their parents’ house, the only home Ginny has ever known. As she packs up her parents’ belongings, Ginny finds evidence of family secrets she isn’t sure how to unravel. She knows how to turn milk into cheese and cream into butter, but she doesn’t know why her mother hid a letter in the bedroom chimney, or the identity of the woman in her father’s photographs. The more she learns, the more she realizes the keys to these riddles lie with the dead, and there’s only one way to get answers: cook from dead people’s recipes, raise their ghosts, and ask them.

Genres: Fiction, Magical Realism, Food, Book Club, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Fantasy

272 pages, Hardcover

First published April 12, 2011

About the author

Jael McHenry is a talented and enthusiastic amateur cook who grew up in Michigan and Iowa before moving from city to city along the East Coast: Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and now New York, where she blogs about food and cooking at the Simmer blog, http://simmerblog.typepad.com. She is a monthly pop culture columnist and Editor-in-Chief of Intrepid Media, online at intrepidmedia.com. Her work has appeared in publications such as the North American Review, Indiana Review, and the Graduate Review at American University, where she earned her MFA in Creative Writing.

Reviews

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: The main character has Asperger's, as do I, and I make it a habit of reading books that portray Aspies.

First, I'd like to mention that this is as far from my regular type of reading as it gets. I don't *do* women's fiction; no matter what the topic I stay very, very far away from it. But when I was introduced to this book I saw the protagonist was Asperger's and I didn't really pay attention to anything else. I just wanted to read it.

I loved this book with a passion. I read it in an evening, staying up to 3:30 am in the morning to finish it; I just couldn't put it down. Ginny Selvaggio was my kindred spirit. The first chapter really introduces her to the reader focusing a lot on her quirks, foibles and what goes on in her mind. I found a lot of myself there in that first chapter, that I knew I was going along for the ride with her. Ginny has Asperger's but has never been officially diagnosed, she doesn't even know herself, which I found odd throughout most of the story seeing as her father was a doctor, well a surgeon technically, but this works itself out by the end. She has unfortunately been overprotected by her parents, her mother virtually taking care of her, leaving the house with her but at the same that same mother does manage to have a wealth of coping strategies for Ginny, insisting she go to school and also insisting she learn the niceties of social discourse. Ginny is now in her early 30s and living at home with her parents, really incapable of dealing with the day-to-day of the outside world as she's never been given a chance.

Then tragedy strikes (this is all in the first chapter, btw) and her parents are killed in a tragic accident leaving Ginny to her own defences. Except her younger sister Amanda completely takes over her mother's role and starts to arrange a new life for Ginny where she, Amanda, will now look after her. But Ginny eventually finds her voice and stands up for herself, she finds a friend, she starts venturing forth into the world. All this causes extreme stress upon her, but she has coping methods and one of them is food, not eating but cooking. Other reviewers will write about the food element of this book which has a major role, but I am not a cook nor do I like foreign, fancy foods, in fact the only recipe that interested my was the hard boiled egg (LOL). So I'll leave that to other reviewers. But thinking about food and cooking are calming forces on Ginny. This is when she realizes that she can bring back ghosts of people. If she follows a recipe of someone dead in their own handwriting they will appear in her kitchen for a short time and Ginny starts talking to these ghosts to unravel a deeply hidden family secret.

I found the story utterly charming! The ghost part was fun, this magical realism added another layer to the story and as a fan of magical realism it probably added to my enjoyment of a "women's fiction" book. The story of how Ginny tentatively makes a friend was interesting to watch and the fact that it was a member of the opposite sex is telling as well. I, myself, do not relate to women very well and find it much easier to talk to men than women. The story of two sisters, is wonderful, and realistic. Both are trying to please, worried about each other, offended by the other's behaviour and have a major falling out in this time of stressful need when they should be supporting each other.

But most importantly, to me, is the portrayal of Asperger's syndrome in a female. I think Ms. McHenry has done a fine job, especially considering she has no personal experience and received all her information through research from some renowned writers on the topic and through the Asperger's network online. I found Ginny entirely believable and a fine voice for the community of aspies in the real world. Personally I found many similarities between Ginny and myself: the use of the closet as a place to get away from it all, the many obsessions, not being able to look people in the eye, not liking to be touched (for me it's just my head/face) but I do need a personal space of an arm's width around me, not seeing the purpose of social chit-chat, performing social niceties because they are expected not because they have a logical reason.

Ginny learns to accept who she is an aspie, as we all do at some point, and begins a process of asserting herself and living with herself, as she is. The book has a positive portrayal of Asperger's and one thing I really appreciated was when she went to see the psychiatrist this was her final discourse with Ginny:


"Everybody struggles with this stuff, you know. With social discomfort and grief and fitting in. People with syndromes, people with disorders, people with diagnoses and without. People who would be classified as neurotypical. Idiots and geniuses, maids and doctors. Nobody's got it all figured out."

"Not even you?"

"Not even me."

"So ... it doesn't actually matter whether I have it at all?"

"I didn't say that," she says. "But you want my personal opinion? It matters a lot less than some people think it does."


Well done, highly recommended read for an insight into Asperger's in an adult just learning she has a "syndrome".

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually my favorite kind of book. It's about something relevant but also about something else much more relevant. It reminds me of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake which is about a girl who feels what people feel when they cook the food. But it's really not. It's about coping skills or it's a little story about growing up...

This book is about Ginny who is 26 years old and has a personality. At least that's what she's always been told. Secretly, Ginny has never been officially diagnosed with Aspberger's Syndrome. She has self-soothed by hiding in closets and sticking her hands into her parents' shoes or cooking. She also self-soothes by cooking or imagining chemical changes while she cooks.

One day she needs to feel comfort and whips up a dish by her Nonna. Imagine her surprise when Nonna appears to her in the kitchen and talks to her. Scares the dickens out of her. This turns out to be a theme for her. When a recipe is hand written, she can conjure a person up with the cooking and the smell. They stay until the smell fades. She learns from talking to them but also is forced to interact with the world about her. Her trusted housekeeper begins as the artery to the outside world and slowly Ginny discovers what she can and can't do. The introduction of David, the housekeeper's grief engulfed son is an interesting storyline.

The book is a story about grief and some of the different grieving styles. So very, very interesting.

[Melodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young woman with Aspberger's coming to terms with herself while grieving the death of her parents. Ginny has always been "different". What has been apparent to her parents, has been kept from Ginny. Ginny has coping skills which include food, it's tastes,textures and smells. So when situations threaten Ginny she conjures food or she cooks.
Reluctantly brought out of herself by circumstances and those around her, Ginny slowly starts to see life beyond the walls of her family home. A healthy dose of magical realism is introduced as Ginny inadvertently conjures her deceased Nonna while cooking.
The author's look into normality was well done. The author invites her reader to look at themselves through the character's eyes.What is normal after all? I think the edges of normal are ever expanding. I thoroughly enjoyed this poignant story.

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would probably rather give this book 3 stars for effort, and only 2 stars for result. I get the sense that Ms. McHenry isn't quite sure what she herself wants this book to be: A "cause" book (informing the public about aspbergers), a book about cooking, a book about relationships, a book about grieving or simply a narrative about life. In any event, I don't think she accomplishes any of these particularly well.

I expected to like this a lot better than I did. And I admit that I stuck with it, even though I was a little annoyed with the length of time it was taking me to finish it. (I'm not compulsive about finishing something if I don't like it - too many other good books waiting for me to turn their pages.) And the writing itself was fine. I loved a lot of the descriptions, Ms. McHenrey certainly does have a love for food.

I did not, though, feel like I was getting a good portrayal of someone with aspbergers syndrome. It just didn't quite ring true for me. Nor did I get a feeling of full character development in well, really, any of the characters. It's almost as though the author is more in love with the actual writing than in the meaning of the writing, if that makes any sense. Lots of promise but little delivery.

Won't be actively seeking more of Ms. McHenry's works to read.

[Pradyuman Mittal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry is the story of a young woman, Ginny, who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome and overcomes her perception of herself as a social outcast through an eventual acceptance and love for who she is as an individual. In my belief, this novel is certainly quite an interesting read as it provides a perspective of the world from the eyes of a person who is not quite the same as the rest of us. There is not much physical action used to develop the plot of the story as as most would expect in literature of our fast-paced, materialistic era, but it speaks volumes in terms of its emotional depth instead. One aspect which I would certainly critique this novel on however, is that through Ginny’s constant procurement of ghosts used to clear up the mysteries of her past, there is not enough character development in the present throughout the entire novel. As a result, McHenry is only able to display an externally subtle change in Ginny’s demeanor, which is brought about by an equally subtle and underwhelming climax scene. Therefore, the overall effect of the novel is one of an interesting read for sure, but one that does not reach its full potential in moving the reader due to the structural issues which it holds.
The first major aspect of this novel is of course the character development of the protagonist, Ginny. At the beginning of the novel, she is scarred with the recent death of her parents, whom she had been fully dependent on for her whole life up to this point. Furthermore, Ginny reacts violently to any physical touch or social interaction due to her Asperger’s, resorting to sensory thoughts about food, her one true passion, in order to soothe herself and avoid panic attacks. Obviously, from this preexisting set of conditions, she experiences social rejection in her own heart and, even though she manages to falsely convince herself that she is normal, her sister, Amanda, compels her not to feel like it all the time, domineering over any situation involving the two of them because she does not trust her sister to make informed decisions. However, through procuring family “ghosts” to clear up her confused past, gaining emotional intelligence through interaction with the maid, Gert, and her son, David, and learning how to control her Asperger’s in social situations through an (involuntary) visit to the psychiatrist, Ginny is able to not only to break out of her shell in her own mind, but also develop a more equal role in her relationship with Amanda by the end. Once again, this change is brought about in a subtle manner
This character development also depicts two main, endearing themes which capture the essence of what McHenry tries to convey. In this man vs self conflict, Ginny struggles with her own identity and part in society. This is embodied first and foremost through the motif of “The Normal Book”, which also depicts the first theme. Ginny reads this compilation of advice column clippings frequently towards the beginning of this novel in order to reassure herself that she is human and normal, as its stories convey the message that there is no defined normal and that “people come from a broad spectrum.” If Ginny’s development is the Hero’s Journey, then the Normal Book is the herald, or call, to adventure as it prompts Ginny not only to read the advice but to act upon its ideals as well as she initially displays inner desires to want to learn how to conform to society’s perception of normal through objective techniques: “I find the title How to be Good. Curious, I open it up. I am disappointed to find it’s fiction.” She has had her sister and many others brand her as broken or defective all of her life, but in the climax, when David, whom she has developed an intimate friendship with through opening up and expanding her own personality, dies in an accident, Amanda visualizes the same human emotions in her sister that she thought were not explicitly present before and, in this moment, realizes that Ginny is a normal individual who experiences life just like her every day and therefore deserves to be treated as equal individual. As I have expressed before, I do not find this climax to be truly embodies the fulfillment of this theme, as there is no definitive action which Ginny takes to bring about this change and rather simply an arbitrary event which evokes this change of heart in Amanda in itself. Although it does not make a perfect fit with the rest of the plot, the climax does revolve more centrally around the second theme. And the motif used to embody this one is that of Ginny’s ghosts. Throughout the novel, Ginny procures ghosts, which are inexplicably and wrongly given the same powers of physical individuals rather than being portrayed as figments of imagination, and interacts with them to dissipate the confusion of the past. Yet, this symbolizes Ginny’s existence in the past more than in the present, further quantified through her frequent emotional escapes to within her parents’ old closet when she is distressed. This theme that one should live in the present is embodied through David’s death, which although is cited to be an accident, actually is implied to be a suicide over the memory of his late wife which haunts and scars his psyche. Similarly, Ginny and Amanda see that they have been living in the sorrow of their parents’ deaths too after this incident and realize how it has driven them apart. They resultedly promise to live in the present together as loving sisters and enjoy life as it comes. Therefore, Ginny’s realization of both of these theme allow her to overcome her self-conflict and create a definitive image of her own identity.
A last aspect of this novel is the writing style itself, which revolves heavily around analogies to food to depict Ginny’s train of thought. This factor is actually one of my favorites in the novel actually as although the connections of the past to ghosts and the theme to the climax may be muddled, these analogies of food connect with the reader through incredible sensory detail and relevance found in their comparisons. From day one, Ginny is a passionate and excellent cook, but uses her gift as a method of escape to begin with. The development of this skill in the opposite direction as an instigator of social interaction, to me, most clearly manages to represent Ginny’s direction of change in confidence throughout the novel. “I want them to bite into a cookie and think of me and smile. Food is love. Food has a power.” She is still the same person, but cooking provides her with the support that she needs to evolve throughout the novel and McHenry brilliantly incorporates this human evolution into the evolution of the purpose to which cooking is wired. So not only do the comparisons to food work really well on a microscopic level, they also serve as the glue to hold the macroscopic structure of the story together. Elsewhere, McHenry writes with standard vernacular, using a smooth flow of dialogue as the main narrator for her novel.
Overall, I recommend this novel to essentially everybody who enjoys reading. I have to agree that if one is looking for an action-packed plot, this is not the book for them, but others will appreciate the emotional complexity of both Ginny’s perspective of the world and her evolution throughout the novel. Despite its structural flaws, I would have to say The Kitchen Daughter is a solid read.

[Chachic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Won a copy of this from MangoJuiced. My review is originally posted here.

Ginny has never been good with people – she doesn’t like strangers and she doesn’t like talking to people. She’s not comfortable with physical contact and only allows a handful of people to touch her. She lives with her parents, in the house where she grew up and fills her days with cooking. Food comforts her and that’s what she uses as a coping mechanism. Here’s a sample of the writing and how Ginny uses food to calm herself:

Her hand is close to my arm. My options are limited. I can’t run away. I can’t handle this.

I lose myself in food.

The rich, wet texture of melting chocolate. The way good aged goat cheese coats your tongue. The silky feel of pasta dough when it’s been pressed and rested just enough. How the scent of onions changes, over an hour, from raw to mellow, sharp to sweet, and all that even without tasting. The simplest magic: how heat transforms.

It’s not surprising that when her world is shaken by several events (the death of her parents, the presence of strangers in her home because of the funeral and her sister’s demands), Ginny turns to food. Even though I’m not a good cook like Ginny is, I could relate to how food comforts her. I find food comforting too but my interests lie in consumption rather than production. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way. The Kitchen Daughter is something that I’d recommend to readers who like their fiction with generous helpings of various food items. Just make sure that you have a snack within reach when you decide to pick this up. Each chapter starts with a recipe and this is it how it looks on my Kindle:



I think we’ve established that there are a lot of food references in The Kitchen Daughter but it’s more than just about food – it’s also about Ginny coming to terms with the death of her parents and in the process, learning more about herself and her family. It was interesting being inside Ginny’s head because she’s such a unique character. Right from the start, the reader knows that there’s something different about Ginny. When asked if she has a condition or anything, she says that what she has “is a personality.” I liked that the story is told from her perspective because it gives us an inside look of how she processes everything around her. It makes me realize that I take so many things for granted in my life – that I’m not socially awkward, that I’m not bothered by physical contact, which I think is a big thing when you live in the Philippines because people have no respect for personal space around here (e.g. public transportation). So even if I don’t think I have a lot of things in common with Ginny, I could still sympathize with her.

I feel like The Kitchen Daughter is a quiet sort of novel because it’s mostly about Ginny and her internal struggles – how she copes with everything that happens in her life and how she tentatively reaches out to the secondary characters. It’s a book about relationships between family members and between friends. It’s also about the intricacies of life – how people have different ways of handling grief and sadness. The Kitchen Daughter is a heartwarming read and a well-written debut novel, the kind of book that you read during a weekend afternoon when you want to get cozy. I’m looking forward to seeing what Jael McHenry has in store for us next.

[Sally906 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love, loved THE KITCHEN DAUGHTER, it was one of those books that you pick up and are unable to put it down willingly for even one minute. Ginny is 26 and still lives at home with her parents, she doesn’t work and never finished university, her parents provide for her. Ginny has all the earmarks of having Asperger’s but has never been diagnosed. Instead her parents encouraged her to depend on them no doubt thinking they were doing the right thing protecting Ginny from distress of knowing that she had Asperger’s. Now her parents are dead, killed in a tragic accident, and Ginny is thrust into “normal” society with no protection. So what are the indicators of her Asperger’s? Well everyone is different and has different symptoms by with Ginny it is her dislike of eye contact, hiding in a dark cupboard when she is overwhelmed, her dislike of loud noise, her fixation on one thing – in this case cooking. She is very logical in how she figures things out, and she speaks very bluntly in short sentences. What she isn’t though is stupid.

THE KITCHEN DAUGHTER opens on the day of her parents’ funeral, with crowds of well-meaning mourners firstly at the service and now back at the family home. The reader starts to cotton on to Ginny’s plight when she tries to avoid eye contact with, and being touched by the sympathetic guests. Ginny retreats to the kitchen because the process of following a recipe, physically or mentally, is calming for her, whenever she is overwhelmed, upset, or uncomfortable she copes by turning to recipes, and cooking. Today she needs comfort food and cooks her late grandmother’s recipe of bread soup to settle herself down. What she didn’t expect was for her grandmother’s ghost to appear in the kitchen and talk to her and give her a cryptic warning to stop her sister Amanda.

Amanda is married with two children and thinks she knows what is best for Ginny. Amanda wants to sell the family home and have Ginny move in with her. What Amanda doesn’t realise is that Ginny is growing as a character and learning to live with her peculiar quirks and deal with life. In other words, Ginny wants independence and acceptance. Amanda wants her tested and put in a box marked ‘Asperger’s’ and won’t sit down and discuss things with Ginny. But Ginny has a family mystery to solve, friends to support her, ghosts to advise her and she learns that she can live life her way. At this point I have to say that my one and only disappointment in the novel was David, but I will have to tease you all and say that I can’t say why. Amanda is very unreasonable and the trickery that she inflicted on her sister was unforgivable, but backfired on her completely.

The writing is beautiful and inspirational; the paranormal elements blend effortlessly into the story and seem to be…well…so normal! It seemed perfectly normal to me that Ginny could conjure up ghosts while others can’t. in fact THE KITCHEN DAUGHTER tries to answer the question ‘what is normal’ when it comes to human behaviour, and I think Ginny has the answered nailed: “…There are so many flavours of normal, it doesn’t matter which one I am…There really is no normal…”

[Athira (Reading on a Rainy Day) · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the sudden death of her parents, Ginny is left feeling isolated and unsure of what to do. Her sister, Amanda, is trying to cope with the tragedy in her own way, but she doesn't really know how to look after Ginny, who has Asperger's syndrome. Ginny throws herself into cooking, because nothing else seems to be able to address her intense sadness the way cooking and food does. The first time, she makes a bread soup from a recipe written by her grandmother. Even before she could relish the awesome dish, her kitchen is visited by an unexpected visitor - the ghost of her grandmother herself, who warns her "Do no let her..." before disappearing.

The Kitchen Daughter is the story of autistic Ginny, who finds that thinking of food helps her cope with her sadness, anger and anxieties. She imagines the smell, feel and taste of food when she's feeling upset. She thinks of each person in terms of the food that comes to her mind when she hears their voice. For instance, her father has a tomato juice voice, her sister an orange juice voice, her friend David has a muddy/espresso voice.

I am usually skeptic of books featuring characters who have autism. Recently, there's been an explosion of literature in that category, and while some have been exceptional, quite a few have been just "following the trend". That said, I do like it when a book shows the disorder authentically. And in that respect, I thought The Kitchen Daughter did a great job in portraying Ginny's illness - her fears, her behavioral tics, her determination to do things her way. I was worried about the mystical element in the book - that of Ginny seeing ghosts when she cooks from their hand-written recipes. While I didn't exactly get comfortable with the ghosts, I thought it was a nice touch.

The Kitchen Daughter is the first foodie fiction that I've read. It was a change reading books with characters interacting first-hand with recipes (which have been shared) and even discussing methods of cooking them. I can see how this would appeal to someone who loves cooking. And since, I'm just beginning to get intimate with cooking (I've been lucky to have been with people who loved to cook for me), some of all that food references just went over my head. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the book or get hungry, but it was not as much as I hoped to.

One thing that disappointed me about this book is that one mystery which was portrayed as very important early on in the book isn't solved by the end of the book. It didn't turn out to be too relevant later, because I understood Ginny to receive closure even without it being revealed, but there was still that little something nagging me at the back of my head. Barring that, I thought this was a different read of a usual storyline told in a refreshing novel way.

[Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ginny Selvaggio has just lost both of her parents and from the beginning of the novel, we readers understand that Ginny is different. She probably has Asperger Syndrome. But what keeps her grounded is her cooking, and she cooks from her recipe box - recipes of dead people .

Each time she finishes the recipe, a ghost is sitting in her kitchen. Her Nonna tells her, "Don't let her."

Who? and what? Her domineering and protective sister wants to sell the house. But that would disrupt Ginny's routine and most likely hurt her. But as Ginny tries to figure out Nonna's message, ghosts keep appearing in her kitchen with messages of their own as Ginny cooks their recipes, until a ghost refuses to come to her kitchen.

We readers follow Ginny's struggles, her grief, and her Asperger's. Yes. You'll probably will need to whip a tear from you eye here and there when reading.

[Arie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This whole attempt to read nice, fluffy, happy books for a while is... not working.

Full review may come eventually.

(NOTE: that cover blurb needs to be re-thought. Nice one, labelling the main character when: she herself refuses that very label/it isn't even brought up til halfway through the book/you pretty much gave away all the plot right there)

[Paula Vince · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ginny Selvaggio is a 26-year-old with Asperger's Syndrome whose parents have died suddenly in an accident. Cooking is her stress outlet, and quite by chance, she realises she can summon ghosts when she cooks from recipes written in the person's own handwriting. But she only has a short time with each of them before the fragrances of their dishes waft away, and visits are limited to once only.

My heart warmed to Ginny straight away. She couldn't avoid a complex that she lacks something essential, since people treat her different from others. It's easy to shun what we don't quite understand, but this book makes it clear what a lot we may miss when we don't make the effort. I like Ginny's 'Normal Book' in which she tries to convince herself that she really is the same as everyone else, and most of all, I enjoy the way she perceives people's voices in terms of food and drink. Amanda's is like orange juice, sweet but sharp, Dad's sharp and round like tomato juice, David's dark and muddy like coffee left on the burner, and Mum's, like regular spearmint but with a laugh like popping bubble gum. From those descriptions, I could certainly hear them.

How interesting that Amanda was cast as the antagonist, since she seems pretty 'normal' to me. Perhaps she represents a side of most of us which we flinch from facing. It's easier to criticise somebody else than acknowledge it. The desire to want to run the show has definitely surged up in me at times. I hated the way Amanda fobbed her sister off whenever the subject of the house sale came up, yet as this story is told from Ginny's point of view, Amanda is bound to show up as domineering and controlling. It's obvious from the things she says that it's a different story from her own vantage point. Maybe it's a bit of a worry that so many of us are ready to come down so hard on a frazzled young mother who has just lost her parents.

In the author interview at the back of the book, Jael McHenry states that agents advised her not to include the Asperger's aspect, thinking it might be harder to sell the book, but she stuck to her guns. I'm so glad she did, as the Asperger's theme was definitely a highlight, and it would've been a poorer book without it.

The story leaves us with the comfortable feeling that just because people may not understand us, doesn't mean we're bad. It's about keeping our wits about us, because when well-meaning people like Amanda 'put a word on us' it may mean the difference between whether we prosper in own unique way, or cave in to the labels which are thrust on us. And so many us really don't fit at the top of the bell curve when it comes to definitions of normal. Let's not think harshly of ourselves for not fitting neatly into the world's narrow definition.

David: What have you got?
Ginny: A personality.

I'll be careful to give no plot spoilers here, but the part near the end where Ginny makes the hot chocolate - I'm sure many of us figured out what was happening before she did. I groaned out loud. I wish that part of the story could have worked out differently, but it's a neat wrap-up for all that, and I consider it an upbeat book in spite of everything.

It's a story I recommend to all foodies and anybody with an Asperger's diagnosis in their family.

[RobertH · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Kitchen Daughter follows the life of 26 year old Ginny, a young woman with quite the “personality”, as she likes to call it. Ginny is suffering from Asperger’s syndrome and food seems to be her only escape from the social awkwardness of the real world. This book helped me to appreciate what goes on in the head of one with such a syndrome and how everyday social interactions we take for granted are nightmares for those with Asperger’s and autism. Ginny is lost after her parents death, in the beginning of the novel. She seems to find no place for herself in society and cannot establish long lasting friendships. Her only real friends were her parents, and now that they are gone, she is alone. Throughout the novel, Ginny grows as a person, makes friendships-both good and bad-along the way, and by the end of the novel she learns to accept herself for who she is.
The central conflict in this book revolves around man vs. self. Ginny and other characters, like her friend David, in the book struggle to keep a strong foothold and stay balanced in their approach to life. Similar to the ideas of Hawthorne and his romantic contemporaries, the main theme of this novel is the idea that everyone has a place in this world,. McHenry obviously believes in the theme of her book wholeheartedly because she develops it beautifully with vigor. The main theme of the novel takes root in the first chapter and gradually grows, branching into several other related themes while keeping the central conflict at its core. This idea that everyone has a place in the world was somewhat of an abstract concept to me. After reading The Kitchen Daughter, however, this idea is more concrete and my place in the world has become likewise, feasible. McHenry appeals to the reader’s senses by using the taste, smell, and even feel of food in her descriptions like “She has a voice like orange juice, sweet but sharp.” and “Her voice was like regular spearmint, clean and cool.” McHenry’s writing style is simple, yet the ideas behind her expressions are deep and philosophical. This style is best illustrated in this excerpt from the novel, “In my life I’ve had good days and bad days. Miserable days. Painful days. And no matter how bad the bad ones get, there’s a mercy in them. Every single one of them ends.” Most people understand the words behind the idea, but the idea behind the words can keep one thinking for weeks. This style lets the novel to express creative philosophical ideas with clarity and simplicity, allowing the reader to ponder the concepts rather than struggle to understand the words.
This book has very little mature content, but the overall ideas are somewhat complicated so anyone and everyone who enjoys views of the world from a different perspective should read this book whether or not they are interested in Asperger’s syndrome. This book deserves more than five out of five stars because it does what every book tries to do, enlighten and entertain at the same time.

[Cranky Commentary (Melinda) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up because it looked so interesting and off-beat. The main character and narrator of the book has Asperger's syndrome, is in her "happy place" whenever she is in the kitchen cooking, and discovers she can summon the ghosts of people by cooking the old, hand-written recipes they left behind. Honestly, how quirky is all of that?

It turned out to be more than I expected. The book is a view into the mind of someone with Asperger's (or high-functioning autism) without pigeon-holing the syndrome into a certain set of must-have behaviors. It also manages, through following the other characters reactions, to impart a common sense, don't panic attitude regarding the syndrome, and the hope, as well as the knowledge, that all it takes is willingness to overcome obstacles. Bravo! With autism having increased 6000% since the 1970's (don't hold me to that statistic...I got it from the internet!) this book should be in the hands of everyone!

The ghosts and the mystery turned out to be quite entertaining, and kept me turning pages. The food and cooking were not only interesting, but something I could relate to. The summoning of the ghosts by using their recipes was not at all silly, as one might think, but quite believable to anyone who has "summoned the presence" of a beloved family member by cooking and serving a dish they were known for. The recipes at the beginning of each chapter gave the book it's charm, And just when I thought I might be able to skim through the last of the book because I thought I knew how it would end, the author jolted me with an ending I did not expect, and went straight to my heart.

So good! This is a must-read.

[Karina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forgot I read this once upon a time but I remember the story. A Jewish girl with Asperger's syndrome finds a way to heal through cooking after a death in the family. The storyline is okay but kind of slow. I wouldn't voluntarily read for a second time.

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Ginny has been sheltered for most of her life by her parents because she has Asperger’s. Then her parents die in an accident and Amanda, Ginny’s sister, wants to sell the family home and have Ginny live with her and her young family. Ginny is resistant to the idea. In her grief she takes comfort in food and makes her Nonna’s recipe. As she cooks it the ghost of Nonna enters the room with a warning for Ginny. Only she doesn’t understand what she it is she is not to let Amanda do.
From there Ginny discovers when she cooks a hand written recipe by someone, it brings back their ghost. She also discovers a secret letter and a stash of photos of a young woman. Who is it and what is the letter from her father to her mother asking for forgiveness about? The voice of Ginny sounds authentic and gives an interesting insight into the way a person with Asperger’s looks at things. It also is interesting to see the way Ginny copes with issues. I enjoyed the voice of this novel.
Each chapter starts with the recipe Ginny cooks. I wasn’t enthused enough to want to try any of the recipes, but it provided an interesting framework for the story. I liked the interaction between Ginny and Gert the housekeeper, and the way Gert tries to help her and also the interaction with Gert’s son David. I read this book very quickly as it kept me interested from the start

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ginny Selvaggio is twenty-six-years-old and attending the funeral of both her parents on a cold December day in Philadelphia. She lives in the family home alone, now that her parents are gone. Her older, domineering sister, Amanda and her husband, Brennan, and their two girls, Shannon, and Parker live in Jersey. Ginny has Asperger’s Syndrome which is a rare and relatively mild autistic disorder characterized by an awkwardness in social interaction and by the development of restricted interests and activities.

The house is now crammed full of relatives and friends who have come to the family home to pay their respects to the two sisters who are left alone without parents. Ginny is feeling very uncomfortable and she cannot handle crowds of people, large or small and sneaks away to her safe place – the kitchen.

In the kitchen Ginny can be who she is and feel what she feels when she feels it away from the scrutinizing eyes and words of her sister, Amanda. The kitchen provides for Ginny a safe place, the only space that she is very comfortable with. Along with that come the cooking she does. “The methodical chopping, slicing, and stirring soothe her anxiety and the rich aroma of ribollita, painstakingly recreated from her Italian grandmother’s handwritten recipe, calms her senses.”

Ginny is in the kitchen drowning out the sounds and chatter of the guests in the other room. Ginny pulls her grandmother’s recipe for “ribollita” from its place and begins preparations to make the soup. She has the garlic and onions simmering, and she’s gathering the cans of tomatoes, beans, and rice among other things. Finally everything is in the pot and smells simply divine. As Ginny opens the silverware drawer to extract a spoon, she notices her. It’s Nonna, sitting on the step stool next to the refrigerator! But, Nonna has been dead for twenty years. Nonna is definitely there, not a figment of Ginny’s imagination and Nonna is wearing what she wore in 1991, and Ginny wonders if she’s hallucinating.
“Hello, uccellina.” she says. Uccellina means ‘Little Bird’ which is what Nonna called her.
“You are surprise?” says Nonna. “But you bring me here. Don’t be afraid.” she says.
“Nonna, what’s going on? Why are you here?”
“You bring me with the smell of ribollita, and I bring the message. I come to tell you. Do not let her!”
“Her? Who?” Ginny inquires.
Suddenly the folding doors to the kitchen suddenly flew open and in stomps Aunt Connie. But Nonna is now gone. Ginny starts running through the crowds in the living room, feeling people touch her skin as she races by. On the opposite side of the room she grabs the door handle to the closet, whips open the door jumps in and slams the door. She sits on the floor, in the darkness with her hands in her deceased father’s rubber boots. Amanda storms to the cupboard and tells Ginny how silly this is and how bad it look with the guests present. But Ginny doesn’t care and she’s not coming out, at least not right now.

The next morning Ginny wakes up in her bed and the first thing that comes to her mind is Nonna’s appearance in the kitchen yesterday and she’s having a hard time handling that. Poor Ginny, now she’s worried that Grandpa Damson might appear on his front porch, or her Dad’s cousin, Olivia, the “rumoured suicide,” will be waiting for her when she gets out of the shower, or that she’ll meet Ma in the hall in the middle of the night, and she’ll scold her back to bed. Thinking a bit more, Ginny decides she must look at Nonna’s appearance has a hallucination but Nonna’s warning: “Do not let her.” plays in the back of her mind.

While deciding what she should do, Ginny accidentally finds an old letter behind a lose brick written by her father, apologizing. The note looked to be about 30 years old. Now Ginny is doubly stumped, a message from Nonna “Do not let her?” Ginny thinks to herself does she mean Amanda? Maybe she’s telling me not to let her sell the house because that’s what Amanda wants to do. But why would Dad ever have to apologize to Mom and Mom think it important enough to keep the letter for 30 years? These are far too many questions for Ginny’s over-crowded mind so she decides she needs to go to the kitchen and cook something to de-stress and calm her self down. This time she decides to make a martini to calm her nerves and picks a recipe called: “The Georgia Peach” and there is no name on the front of this card so she feels safe. She assembles everything together, shakes the drink, pours it into a martini glass but it overflows. Ginny bends forward to take a sip before trying to pick it up when a voice behind her booms:
“That doesn’t look entirely dignified, but I admire your spirit.”
Ginny is stunned and flips the recipe card over and there is a name.
“Mrs. John Hammersmith”? asks Ginny.
“Oh, call me Necie please,” she says.
Turns out Necie was one of her mother Caroline’s best friends but she’s been dead for many, many years. When Ginny tells Necie her mother too is dead, Necie begins to laugh saying: “...”it doesn’t sound like such a tragedy to me, I’m dead too, a long time now.”
Then she quickly faded as quickly as she appeared. Ginny was a bit surprised that Necie didn’t leave her a “message” like Nonna had done. However, Ginny has now discovered she can call ghosts from the past by making their recipes as long as they were written by hand. Whoever wrote the original recipe by hand, is the person who will appear from the past. Now poor Ginny is off and running, who else could she see? What else can she learn? She is so excited to have discovered this that she wants to run around the kitchen in circles, but doesn’t because she is so awed at what she has learned about the recipes.

From here the story just keeps getting better and better with other various characters from the past appearing and a terrible tragedy also occurs which will rip your heart strings out. Amanda and Ginny continue to bash heads over the sale of the house and Ginny discovers something about herself that she also believes has been passed down to one of Amanda’s daughters, but Amanda refuses to hear anything about it and won’t speak to Ginny.

Jael McHenry’s debut novel is a blast from the past, so to speak and a lesson in what it means to accept the magic in our lives and to never, ever give up on what we know to be true, and above all, to honour who we are and where we came from. I recommend this book for anyone.

[JanB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ginny, a 26 yr old with Asperger’s, must deal with the sudden loss of her overprotective parents. She struggles in a world that doesn’t consider her normal, including her sister, Amanda, who is dealing with the loss of their parents in her own way. She comes in to save the day. Conflict and misunderstanding arises when Ginny doesn’t want to be saved.

The different faces of grief are explored as well as the definition of "normal" You’ll find yourself rooting for Ginny, one of fiction’s most interesting and endearing characters, as she tries to find her way in an often confusing world. I’m not a big fan of magical realism but it’s done with a light touch and was an enjoyable part of the story.

When Ginny is overwhelmed, she copes by cooking so the recipes and descriptions of the prep and cooking are added bonuses.

Highly recommended. Good for book clubs.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ginny's life is normal. Well, normal if you don't take into account that she's recently started seeing ghosts and that one of them happens to be her late grandmother. After the death of her parents, Ginny turns to what she knows best, the kitchen. It's there, through the comfort of her grandmother's Ribollita recipe that she appears and attempts to send her a message, "do not let her...". Unfortunately that's all she hears and then her grandmother is gone, leaving her with question after question. Not only that, but a sister who is insistent on running her life. With so many questions and little experience in the outside world she turns to what she knows best and discovers something completely unexpected.

Are you a fan of Cecilia Ahern, Sarah Addison Allen, or Aimee Bender? If so, you will absolutely want to read The Kitchen Daughter. Recently there seems to have been a myriad of books centered around magical realism and I for one am actually a huge fan. I don't generally like the overly paranormal, heavy duty fairies and werewolves type books (though there is a time and place for them), but these magical realism books are just perfect. Based enough in the real world with magic that is only slightly unbelievable, because who hasn't heard of someone who can honestly see ghosts? Does that mean it actually happens? Who's to say? But in these few select author's writings they've mastered the art of bending reality and adding a glimmer to a normally ordinary setting; Jael McHenry is no exception.

As for The Kitchen Daughter itself, I loved every bit of it. There were so many surprises, including Ginny's character itself. I've not read many books that involve characters with Asperger's or related tendencies, but the first that springs to mind is Jodi Picoult's recent House Rules in which the main character is a young teenage boy that has been diagnosed with Asperger's. What I enjoyed about Ginny's character over that character was a difference in maturity, because at 26 she's had quite a bit of time to become "comfortable" in her own skin but had still developed some traits that had been engrained into her subconscious. Being that the story was told from her point of view, it was interesting to see how she handled awkward situations and that most often it was with food. Her coping mechanism, outside of hiding in a closet, was to think of ingredients and slowly work herself through recipes in her mind. It was such a nice touch and reminded me a bit of Sarah Addison Allen's writing.

Not only was Ginny's character intriguing regarding how she handled difficult situations due to having Asperger's, but how she viewed herself compared to those around her. In her eyes she was normal and nothing more than a "personality." I definitely spent some time, and still am, considering what exactly is normal? Why is it that as a society, instead of helping others with encouragement and understanding we choose to label them perhaps even giving them a "solution" in the form of a pill? That's not to say every situation is like this and that there aren't some that truly need medical help, but have we gotten too lax? Is it easier to label than to put the effort in and help? Though she wasn't present through much of the book, I'd definitely say I admired Ginny's mom. To think of all she struggled with, not only with helping Ginny, but with the teachers & parents that associated with Ginny and their opinions about her. It's incredibly difficult. As a parent with a son who has a form of Autism I can completely relate and can honestly say I'm grateful for the insight Jael McHenry has shed on this topic, even if it is through fiction.

As for the other characters, I'd have to say that Ginny's sister Amanda in particular was not my favorite person. This may be because I was looking through Ginny's eyes for much of the book and it wasn't until the end that you are able to see Amanda's side of the story. It's difficult, life is difficult and joyous at the same time. Gert was the one who could truly see this and was by far my favorite character in the book. A friend and the housekeeper in Ginny's home, Gert's life had been filled with sorrow and joy, but no matter she was one of those stalwart people you turn to when things aren't going well. An anchor for Ginny as well as all those around her.

The Kitchen Daughter is one of those books that isn't only magical while you're reading, but leaves behind a trail of magic dust that touches you for days to come. Ginny's character as told through the food she loves and the ways in which she uses it to conquer her fears is endearing and entirely unique. I will absolutely be thinking about and recommending this book for a long time to come. As a debut novelist I could think of no better way to start off than the way Jael McHenry has. Blending her love of food which she shares regularly on her blog as well as her talent for writing, I'm positive she is a writer we'll be seeing much more from in the future.

[Andrew Leong · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my perspective, this book was certainly different from most books I have read in the past. Not many books have this unique feature that most books have, which is its way of describing and using figurative language effectively. McHenry writes in a style where she compares objects with the senses of food, “Her voice was like a regular spearmint, clean, and cool, but the laugh was a gum bubble popping.” I loved the way McHenry is different in her description of writing. Her way of writing allowed Ginny to be an interesting and fun character. I loved how Ginny’s viewpoint was different from characters in other books.
The Kitchen Daughter by Jael Henry, is written about a woman that has a syndrome, known as Asperger's. Throughout the book, Ginny, who is the protagonist, struggles to make connections and conversations with others around her and her only distraction is her cooking. In the story, Ginny pursuits to fit in society but her disease drags her down. With Ginny’s syndrome, she attempts to become “normal” by cooking in her kitchen. She feels that cooking is her only comfort zone and uses cooking to escape her disease. During the funeral in the beginning, Ginny whispers to herself, “A new voice, a man’s voice, goes on. I don’t listen to the words. It doesn’t feel real, this funeral. It doesn’t feel like I’m here. Maybe that’s a good thing. Here is not somewhere I want to be… I’m not ready.” The only friends she had were her parents and since they passed, Ginny emerged to have no one to talk but herself. As the book progresses, she is forced to talk and reach out to other characters. After meeting David and more friends along the way, however, she progresses herself and grows as a person creating friendships and communicating with people around her. Ginny learns to converse with others to start long lasting conversations.
The conflict occurring in the novel is man vs. self in that Ginny tries to overcome her disease by meeting new people and by cooking to satisfy her disease. She admits that she is introverted, “I’m socially awkward, I’m not retarded”, while talking to her sister Amanda.
With this concept, I believe that the author’s message to the readers is that anyone can accomplish something they desire if they are determined. McHenry follows the idea by portraying Ginny as shy and incapable of speaking to others. From beginning to the end, Ginny desires to become normal and sets her mind to achieve her goal. Towards the end, Ginny grows into a character that was unexpected to the readers. She became more comfortable and definitely more enjoyable to be around than in the beginning of the story.
To attain her goal and become normal, Ginny used a tool called “The normal book.” The normal book was constantly brought up in the story as well as Ginny’s interest in cooking. McHenry brings up these two things to show Ginny’s ambition to become normal. I think the two motifs brought out the theme in that the normal book and cooking allowed Ginny to be one step close to her goal. The theme allowed me to gradually think upon what is the focus on my personal life at the moment. I need to have the mindset to undertake and complete anything I desire. It definitely gave me motivation and a sense of encouragement to complete my goals in life.
I would recommend this story because this book is both a page turner and teaches us about other perspectives of life. Additionally, it allows us to learn what other people around us experience in their everyday life. Before reading this book, I had very little knowledge about Asperger’s, and now I am further educated about Asperger’s. From the life of Ginny, I learned to appreciate myself along with those who surround me. We understand that Ginny struggled to be alone after her parents death, and we must take that into consideration. Furthermore, appreciating our lives and take advantage of our opportunities that other cannot have. I suggest any reader to read this book.

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Kitchen Daughter is an insightful and engaging debut by Jael McHenry. Ginny Selvaggio is a young woman whose social awkwardness and literal interpretation of the world has caused difficulties in accomplishing tasks usually associated with maturity. At 26 she still lives at home, doesn't work and relies on her parents to provide for her. Her parents, in particular in her mother, has encouraged Ginny's dependence in what has been a misguided attempt to protect Ginny from distress and judgement. When her parents die unexpectedly, Ginny comforts herself by cooking, only to conjure the spirit of her deceased grandmother who gives her a cryptic warning.
Ginny Selvaggio is an unique character, beautifully written by Jael McHenry. From the outset, Ginny's thoughts and behaviour are recognisably unusual. Ginny's dislike of eye contact and her retreat to a darkened closet when she is overwhelmed by the guests at her parents wake are immediately suggestive of Asperger's for those that are aware of the syndrome. McHenry captures the moments of Ginny's emotional reactions in a way that feels authentic, from the coping methods she uses to the almost detached and analytical way she responds to the challenges she faces. McHenry also gives Ginny a distinct voice, with the short sentences and blunt communication that is characteristic of someone with Asperger's. Ginny's affinity with food, its flavor, texture and smell, as well as the comfort and sense of pride she derives from cooking it is wonderfully portrayed, and humanises her story with some enticing recipes.
The appearance of the ghosts that visit Ginny is handled well, the context is not over dramatised and gives the book a touch of magic and even whimsy. It is somehow perfectly acceptable that Ginny can conjure something ordinary people can not.
The supporting characters in The Kitchen Daughter are well developed, Amanda, Ginny's sister, seems unreasonable even as you acknowledge that her intentions are good. I was properly indignant over her trickery and frustrated by her attempts to steamroll her sister.
Gert's role is invaluable as an unobtrusive support for Ginny, even though she makes only brief appearances. Her own personal history underscores the theme of learning from experiencing life's sorrows and joys, a vital lesson for Ginny to process.
My one disappointment in the novel centers around David, not that I would have wanted a 'happy ever after' for two such complicated characters but I was saddened by the events that separate he and Ginny.
The Kitchen Daughter was a pleasure to read curled up on the lounge, I was drawn to the characters and completely engaged by the story. It is a heartwarming and thought provoking novel that is as endearing as it is satisfying. A wonderful read.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book came up in a book group, and I assumed it was "just chick lit" which usually seems to me superficial and silly and which I don't normally read. But since it was a book group selection, I ordered a used copy. Took a lo g time to arrive and was a pretty fast read when it did. And surprisingly insightful.

Ginny and Amanda have recently lost their parents to a freak accident where they were staying on an extended vacation. The story opens at the funeral where Ginny is trying very hard to hold it together and to escape PEOPLE. It's pretty clear her reactions are more extreme than most people's, and I knew from other's comments that the book was about a young woman with Asperger's Syndrome.

Turns out it's pretty well done. The plot has some fantasy in it--when Ginny, whose passion is cooking and who cooks to calm herself down, discovers that she can bring up a ghost of someone dear when she cooks the recipe of that person. McHenry uses that device to explore Ginny's understanding of the people close to her and to learn enough about them help herself to get her through her grief.
A clever plot, effective use of fantasy,and sound psychological insights. I'm glad I read this one.

[L Y N N · Rating 5 out of 5]

A favorite book for me! I loved the characterization; each person seemed so real! And I believe the lack of communicative ability was accurately depicted. Or perhaps more accurately, the discomfort with typical interactions would be a more accurate statement/description. Ah, and those family dynamics! How they can change when elder family members are no longer around in everyday life. Ginny can seem much like a defiant teenager, though she really is not, in my opinion. Thanks to her mother she has learned coping skills, though many of her behaviors frustrate her sister to the utmost! I kept asking myself, "But whose perception of "normal" matters most?" Obviously, not Ginny's... More and more even "doctors" are realizing that some people have very different abilities that not so long ago would have seemed impossible and/or been considered symptoms of mental instability and freakish. I believe it is definitely possible for others to have abilities at a different level and in varied ways. I have several friends with some "super sensibilities," for example and I always find that fascinating. A very sad and bittersweet ending to this book in many ways and yet hopeful, too... Definitely worth reading!!

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartwarming book though it also dealt with grief and neurodivergence in a positive way. I enjoyed the supernatural aspects, very well done. Probably more like 3.5 stars. I had a niggling question in my mind how Ginny supported herself, perhaps it wasn't an important aspect of the storyline? Entertaining regardless.

[Terri Suda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. One more good book down! Read this for my Tuesday Night Girl's Club discussion which is tonight. Looking forward to talking about it with the gals. I made the shortbread recipe in the book for the discussion - one batch with real butter, the other dairy free - yummo! Recipe worked perfectly.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and easy read. Interesting story which lends itself well to gaining a better understanding of what a person with Asperger's may experience. I really enjoyed the author's culinary descriptions but otherwise, the characters and plot really aren't that memorable.

[Constance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to read from the point of view of someone "on the spectrum". The descriptions of food and recipes were vivid and interesting. Suffers from the "3/4 problem" where authors start strong but don't seem to know how to get to the ending that is planned. All in all, enjoyable to read.

[Pranav Krishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Kitchen Daughter, a compelling novel by Jael McHenry, follows the life and events of Ginny, a girl with Asperger's Syndrome. The novel as a whole was quite enlightening in several ways. For one, McHenry’s insight into the characteristics and personality of an Asperger’s victim was very interesting to understand. I can assuredly say that it provided me with a perspective I had never seen before. I was intrigued by the simple canvas that McHenry decides to use in her novel, as it underscores the emotional changes Ginny goes through in overcoming her social problems. Nonetheless, the author’s decision in framing a novel in this fashion, in my opinion, leads to a rather subtle story, with the plot as a whole, especially the climax, being dull.
The plot that The Kitchen Daughter provides creates a character development that is impressive and attention-grabbing. Ginny’s notable change in perspective and personality is the epitome of a character whose problems in society are overcome. At the beginning of the novel, Ginny is hit hard by the deaths of her parents, and struggles to live life independently. She resorts to her love for cooking as a way for her to avoid socializing. This, in turn, leads her to be shunned from society and left as a social outcast. As a result, she is constantly reminded of her syndrome, in addition to her domineering sister Amanda, who does not stop to convince her that she is not normal. All of these influences on her life force Ginny to believe that every one of her problems as a human being stem from the Asperger’s she was born with. From this melancholic exposition, we see Ginny receiving messages from ghosts she conjures from her cooking. Over many confrontations with these ghosts, she begins learning about her past. She also receives help from other people in her lives, including a psychiatrist (Granted, this was an involuntary meeting), Gert, her maid, and Gert’s son David. These people, as well as the ghosts, improve Ginny’s ability to act in certain situations, and feel stronger emotionally. One rather important change to note is her confrontation with her father, after his death in the exposition of the novel. Her father talks with Ginny, and mentions that he himself had Asperger’s Syndrome, yet still became a renowned doctor and suppressed the apparent symptoms of the syndrome. This meeting was a remarkable moment in Ginny’s transformation. For one, she was imbued with confidence, in that she was convinced that her disease would not consume her entire life, and that she had control. In addition, she had the ability not only be successful, but also be seen a regular, social member of society. She is able to break the notion that she will always be a social outcast that needs help. This gives her the emotional strength to confront her sister and defend herself.
Throughout the novel, Ginny’s central conflict, as proven by her emotional transformation from the beginning to the end, is with herself. She fights against her own will, to break out of the shell that blocks her from her true potential.
As I see it, McHenry’s central message is that in the face of adversity, there is always is a chance to overcome it. The novel develops this overarching theme by showing various influences that combine to improve Ginny. At the low level, these influences change the way Ginny thinks and socializes in society. On the deeper scale, they change her outlook on situations and challenges in life. She no longer sees herself as a weak, dependent individual but rather a strong, independent person. This is something McHenry tries to convey throughout the novel, as she highlights Ginny’s changes in personality, and her dealings with Amanda. To me, however, I feel I learned a great deal from the theme of The Kitchen Daughter. It taught me that tough circumstances are natural challenges in life that shape who you are, and what perspective you have on life, on the greater scale.
McHenry’s writing style supports the theme quite well, as she uses imagery time and time again in the novel. The imagery used to describe the food Ginny cooks, to describe Ginny’s thoughts, sights, and feelings, helps to solidify the theme in the reader’s mind. It marked the changes in Ginny, as the novel progressed, and therefore made it easier to see how there is a chance to overcome adversity.
While reading the novel, I was impressed by a couple of quotes that stood out to me. We see in the exposition that Ginny’s life is filled with turmoil and doubt. She is waiting out every single day and unconfident in herself. Ginny expresses all these feelings by saying, “In my life, I’ve had good and bad days. Miserable days. Painful days. And no matter how bad the bad ones get, there’s a mercy in them. Every single one of them ends”. Ginny’s statement emphasizes her pain and desperate need for it to alleviate. In addition, it is a message that McHenry embeds in her writing to include possibly some of her own feelings. By the resolution, Ginny has immensely changed. McHenry concludes with Ginny saying, “Food is love. Food has a power. I knew it in my mind, but now I know it in my heart”. I particularly liked this quote as it shows how Ginny, in spite of all of the changes she has gone through, maintained her constant interest in food and cooking. She realizes it is her niche and strives to preserve that major aspect of her life.
As a whole, I was impressed by the themes and messages McHenry is able to embed in her novel, the canvas of a simple, yet inspiring, story. However, I am convinced that more could have been done to make the story deeper. I feel that the changes we see in Ginny are too subtle to shape an entire novel around. Regardless, I would recommend this book as an insightful look at the unique perspective of a person living with Asperger’s, a case many of us do not get to understand in our lives.

[Sonia189 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't a long book but it had quite an emotional punch. I think the author did an amazing job portraying grief and self doubt and differences in how people see themselves. However, the tone of the story also was a little too much on the depressive side and it also felt like some situations could have had more closure.
Still, a surprisingly good read for me.

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful story, beautifully highlighting how a neurodivergent child makes her way in the world!!
Allowing Ginny to tell her own story was brilliant!
Since I have a neurodivergent granddaughter, I appreciated the explanations & insights.

[Asami Takagi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed Jael McHenry’s novel. McHenry adds a dash of the supernatural, a pinch of love, and creates a delicious and enticing novel. This is my favorite kind of novel because the author takes a relatable event, like one’s parents passing, and makes it unique. Most of all, I appreciate her response to a modern issue -- finding the definition of normal. The main character struggles to define the true meaning of normal and, in turn, defines herself as normal. However, McHenry fails to explain the quote “Don’t let her,” an important line that intrigues the character (McHenry 8). This annoyed me and some of the essence of the novel was lost.

McHenry introduces Ginny as an immature and sheltered girl who does not know how to deal with her parents’ death. She is socially awkward because of her Asperger’s. While the typical young woman would cry at her parent’s funeral, Ginny hides in closets and cooks. Her life changes when her dead Nonna appears as she cooks one of her recipes. The discovery of her power to bring back the dead and the responsibility she feels to tie her remaining family closer changes her life. At the end of this novel, Ginny learns how to deal with her Asperger’s and is able to live the life that she has always dreamed about.

The central conflict is man versus self. Ginny is desperate to find the true definition of normal. However, she gets in her own way of discovering the meaning of normality because she is not quite sure how to discover it and must overcome her own obstacles she had created to find it. In the climax, Ginny makes amends with herself that she is different, but, by being different like everyone else, she defines herself as normal.

In this novel, McHenry is not afraid to ask what normal is. She answers this question by teaching the readers that everyone is normal. Since everyone is so unique, being different is normal. The author confirms this with “The Normal Book,” where individuals define the odd things they do as “normal.” It reassures Ginny, as well as the readers, that they are normal as well.

The author uses “The Normal Book” to symbolize normality in the human race and uses it to support the theme that everyone is normal. In addition, McHenry uses unique metaphors to describe the actions and thoughts of Ginny, making the character different. The author’s creative and unique style of writing supports the theme that because we are all so different, we are normal.

Jael McHenry has a creative style of writing that is indulging and different from other authors. She tells the story in Ginny’s point of view, a woman with Asperger’s syndrome, and captures the essence of her voice beautifully. McHenry stands out from other writers because she uses food to describe articles of clothing, colors, emotions, and other topics and items that may sound indescribable by food. For example, she explains soothing oneself as, “Think of food. Think of sugar. I am a sugar cube in cold water. I won't dissolve. Precise edges. Made up of tiny, regular, secure parts. If the water were hotter I would worry, but it's cold. I stay together. Precise. Clean. Surrounded, but whole” (41). McHenry’s choice of words is refreshing. It’s different than what I've seen before and it works well with the situation. Additionally, McHenry is able to describe something as simple as a voice as, “She has a voice like orange juice, sweet and sharp” (10). In both examples, her metaphors are beautifully constructed and creative. Her descriptions are so vivid that I could imagine the scent and taste of the food.

Despite the lack of explanation of a key quote, I would still recommend this book. Regardless of that detail, this book has a unique voice and fascinating characters. The novel includes unexpected twists and a thought-provoking theme, keeping it interesting for the reader. The book flows beautifully and the 272 pages just flies by!