The Lost Art of Mixing (A School of Essential Ingredients Novel)

National bestselling author of Reese Witherspoon's Book Club pick, The Scent Keeper, Erica Bauermeister returns to the enchanting world of The School of Essential Ingredients in this luminous sequel.

Lillian and her restaurant have a way of drawing people together. There's Al, the accountant who finds meaning in numbers; Chloe, a budding chef who hasn't learned to trust after heartbreak; Finnegan, quiet and steady as a tree, who can disappear into the background despite his massive height; Louise, Al's wife, whose anger simmers just below the boiling point; and Isabelle, whose memories are slowly slipping from her grasp. And there's Lillian herself, whose life has taken a turn she didn't expect...

Their lives collide and mix with those around them, sometimes joining in effortless connections, at other times sifting together and separating again, creating a family that is chosen, not given. A beautifully imagined novel about the ties that bind--and links that break--The Lost Art of Mixing is a captivating meditation on the power of love, food, and companionship.


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Published Nov 5, 2013

296 pages

Average rating: 7

5 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

margardenlady
Dec 27, 2023
10/10 stars
It's as though Bauermeister is an impressionist, lightly sketching the intimacies of each of her characters...we see a little backstory here, a pattern of interaction there, never in a heavy detailed way, but you feel like you KNOW each person that populates her books. This is aided by the way she shifts focus from one character to the next as the chapters progress. You feel like you are invited into different inner circles as a special visitor. The book has no primary single plot. There is no problem to solve, rather, there are multiple strands of lives that are woven together in increasingly inextricable ways. Each of these strands climaxes at approximately the same point but none of them are THE climax of the story. Charming. Bauermeister has definitely not lost the art of mixing!
Litabelle
Aug 25, 2023
5/10 stars
Not bad, but I greatly preferred the first book

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