Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love by Kim Fay

 

Lisa wrote about Love & Saffron by Kim Fay in her best of 2022 recap and I was intrigued. In this epistolary novel, told over a three-year period in the 1960s, we see a friendship develop between two women of different backgrounds, generations, and experiences. They share the ins and outs of their daily lives, recipes, and dreams. It's short, not even 200 pages, and there's a lot of white space on most pages, so it's a quick read.

I am so hungry for books about female friendships. My female friends are the backbone of my life. I depend on my friends for sympathy when I send them dumb texts about having to figure out dinner Every Night. I depend on them for laughs when I receive yet another rejection after a job interview that I thought went well. I depend on them for a different perspective when I am wrong about something but refuse to admit it to myself. My female friends are one of the best parts of my life. Three of my closest female friends do not even live in the same time zone as me, but modern technology allows us to remain close. But books focus mostly on romantic and familial relationships and while those are worthy topics, I really would like more literature that focuses on positive female relationships. 

So I LOVED this. I loved the bravery of the first letter sent to a total stranger with an offering of friendship and food. I loved the way these women supported each other through some very trying times. I loved how the author slipped in historical events, like earthquakes and the assassination of JFK, without it being forced. It's just how friends WOULD talk. I was absolutely delighted by this representation of the beauty of letters in the mail and the joy of reading a thoughtful note from your friend. 

This book, my friends, is exactly the book for me.

5/5 stars

Lines of note:

I tried reading but can't concentrate on the only unread novel here on our shelves. A book of the Month selection, Rabbit, Run, by a self-satisfied-looking stuffed shirt named John Updike. It was left behind by my friend Hazel. After tormenting myself with a few morose chapters, I began to suspect Hazel abandoned it on purpose. While the storm could fairly be blamed for my lack of charity, I'm sure I would find this book a toil in clear weather, too. The protagonist gazes at his navel as if he is the first man in history to have feelings of dissatisfaction about his life. (pages 6-7)

Obviously, a pithy review of a book by a boring author is going to appeal to the likes of me!

I have simply always had an interest in people from other countries. I like the way their kitchens smell. (page 10)

What a lovely approach to life. Food is such an important touchstone for culture.

[as a note to her friend when she is struggling with hard personal decisions] Fill the corners of my mind so there can be nowhere for doubt to lurk. (page 122)

Friends are so important.