Table for Seven: A Novel - Softcover

Gaskell, Whitney

 
9780553386288: Table for Seven: A Novel
Softcover
ISBN 10: 055338628X ISBN 13: 9780553386288
Verlag: Random House Publishing Group, 2013

Inhaltsangabe

A warm and witty novel about friendship, fine dining, and learning that life doesn’t always turn out quite how we expect it to—perfect for fans of Barbara O’Neal and Nancy Thayer
 
On New Year’s Eve, Fran and Will Parrish host a dinner party, serving their friends a gourmet feast. The night is such a success that the group decides to form a monthly dinner party club. But what starts as an excuse to enjoy the company of fellow foodies ends up having lasting repercussions on each member of the Table for Seven Dinner Party Club.
 
Fran and Will face the possibility that their comfortable marriage may not be as infallible as they once thought. Audrey has to figure out how to move on and start a new life after the untimely death of her young husband. Perfectionist Jaime suspects that her husband, Mark, might be having an affair. Coop, a flirtatious bachelor who never commits to a third date, is blindsided when he falls in love for the first time. Leland, a widower, is a wise counselor and firm believer that bacon makes everything taste better.
 
Over the course of a year, against a backdrop of mouthwatering meals, relationships are forged, marriages are tested, and the members of the Table for Seven Dinner Party Club find their lives forever changed.

Praise for Table for Seven
 
“A fun and delectable journey of love, friendship and delicious food.”—RT Book Reviews
 
“[Whitney] Gaskell’s engaging novel is a high-wire artist’s performance as she spins a highly entertaining tale of a monthly dinner party.”—Booklist
 
“[Table for Seven] invites readers to monthly dinner parties featuring mouthwatering menus and a group of guests dealing not so well with various relationship issues. . . . Gaskell has mastered the art of putting the fun in dysfunctional.”—Kirkus Reviews

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Whitney Gaskell is the author of eight books, including Mommy Tracked and Good Luck. She lives in Stuart, Florida, with her husband and son.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

january

.. ..

Tequila Shrimp

Arugula, Fennel, and Orange Salad

Seared Scallops with Butter Sauce over Tarragon Rice

Cheese Plate

White Chocolate–Raspberry Crème Brûlée Tartlets

Fran was the one who first suggested a New Year’s Eve dinner party. But it was Will’s idea to serve a different course every hour, on the hour, counting down to midnight.

“Then, for the last course, we can have something like cherries jubilee, which we’ll light up at the stroke of midnight,” Will said.

“Cherries jubilee?” Fran repeated doubtfully. Cherries jubilee reminded her of fusty country club dining rooms, the sort that were always decorated in shades of mauve and served the food buffet-style, with carving stations where thick slabs of chewy, flavorless roast beef were hacked off for each diner.

“Or something else that we can serve flambé,” Will said. “Bananas Foster? Baked Alaska?”

“What’s this sudden fascination with desserts that are on fire?” Fran asked, paging through The French Laundry Cookbook. A few of the pages were stained with what looked like splattered olive oil. Fran had a habit of propping cookbooks too close to the stove when she cooked.

“Just think: The clock strikes midnight, it’s the first minute of the New Year, and we celebrate by turning off all the lights and serving a flaming dessert.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of white chocolate–raspberry crème brûlée tartlets,” Fran said. “But I like the idea of serving a course every hour, on the hour. Do you think that would be hard to pull off?”

“I’ll help,” Will said, sealing this promise with a chaste kiss on Fran’s cheek. Then, whistling cheerily, he headed off to the garage to continue work on his latest combat robot, leaving Fran to plan everything herself.

Fran paged through her extensive collection of cookbooks, looking for inspiration, while she considered the guest list. Jaime and Mark Wexler. Audrey, obviously, although she was going to be defensive if she was the only single person at a party of couples. Fran tried to think of any other single people she knew—and if it was a man, it couldn’t be someone Audrey suspected Fran was trying to set her up with, another area on which her best friend was ridiculously touchy—and then she thought of her next-door neighbor Leland McCullogh. He was a widower in his seventies—which meant he was about thirty years older than the others—but Leland was witty and charming and would make an excellent addition to the dinner party.

Fran stood and padded barefoot to the garage, where Will sat hunched in concentration over his workbench.

“What do you think of inviting the Wexlers, Audrey, and Leland from next door to our New Year’s Eve dinner party? Six is a good number, right?” Fran asked.

Will didn’t give any indication that he had heard her.

“Will?” Fran said.

“Hmm?” Will said, still not looking up.

“I started a grease fire in the kitchen. The house is going up in flames. What should I do?” Fran asked.

“The fire extinguisher is right over there,” Will said, waving vaguely toward the shelving that lined the back wall of the garage. “See? I’m not ignoring you.”

“Very convincing,” Fran said. “What do you think of the guest list?”

“Sounds fine,” Will said. He picked up a hunk of metal—part of his latest combat robot, Fran assumed, although Will’s creations always looked more like metal boxes than C-3PO—and secured it in a vise.

“Can you think of anyone else we should invite?” Fran asked.

“Nope.” Will picked up a screwdriver and held it over the robot like a surgeon contemplating his first cut.

Fran waited a beat or two, but Will didn’t give any indication that he was going to join the conversation they were having. She turned.

“Coop,” Will said.

“What?” Fran turned back.

“Coop,” Will said again. “Didn’t I tell you? He’s in town.”

“Wait. What? Coop’s here? In our town?” Fran asked. An image of Coop—sexy Coop with his tanned face and pale gray eyes, the hair on his arms bleached white from hours spent out on his boat—flashed through her thoughts.

“Yes,” Will said. “I thought I told you.”

“No,” Fran said. “What’s he doing here?”

“He’s living here. He rented an apartment on the beach.”

“Okay, put down the screwdriver, and start from the beginning,” Fran said.

Will looked up, blinked at her, and set the screwdriver down on his workbench.

“Coop’s living here,” he said again.

“Yes, you said that. Now I want to hear the rest of it. What is Coop doing here? When did he move here? Why haven’t you told me about this before?” Fran asked.

“He’s editing some film he’s working on. I think it has something to do with coastal tides. They shot it up near Nova Scotia. He said it was freezing, and that he was glad to be back in Florida,” Will said.

“I can imagine. But why is he here in Ocean Falls? What happened to Miami?”

“He sold his condo before he left for the shoot, so he decided to rent up here while he’s in postproduction. I thought I told you all of this,” Will added, looking longingly at his robot.

“No,” Fran said. “You didn’t. How long is he in town for?”

“No idea. Indefinitely, I think.”

“We should have him over.”

“That’s what I was suggesting. Invite him to the dinner party.”

“You think?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Wouldn’t he think a dinner party was boring and suburban?”

“No way. We’re hip and cool,” Will said. But that was just it, Fran thought. They were not hip and cool. They didn’t live in Brooklyn, and have tattoos, and name their children Fifi or Zola. Will was a city planner, Fran was a physical therapist, and they spent their weekends grocery shopping, mowing the lawn, and chauffeuring their two daughters to soccer and dance practices. “What about Audrey?”

“What about her?”

“If we invite her and we invite Coop, she’ll jump to the conclusion that I’m trying to set her up with him,” Fran said.

“That’s because you’re always trying to set her up.”

“No, I’m not.”

“The last time we were at the grocery store, you accosted some guy in the deli meat line—”

“I did not accost him!”

“—and asked him if he would be interested in going out with Audrey,” Will finished.

“He wasn’t a stranger. His son was on the same soccer team as Rory, back when they were little. I just couldn’t remember his name. We all called him Cute Single Dad Guy,” Fran said.

“Except now he’s married,” Will said.

“How was I supposed to know that? I haven’t seen the man in five years,” Fran said.

“He was wearing a wedding band.”

“Whatever. Anyway, Audrey needs a little push to get back out there. Ryan’s been gone for, what, seven years now?”

“Wow, has it...

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Verlag
Random House Publishing Group
Erscheinungsdatum
2013
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
055338628X
ISBN 13 
9780553386288
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
416
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
gpsr@libri.de
gpsr@libri.de

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