The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

The unforgettable bestselling story of a girl whose magical gift becomes a devastating curseOn the eve of her ninth birthday, Rose Edelstein bites into her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift- she can taste her mother's emotions in the slice. All at once her cheerful, can-do mother tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes perilous. Anything can be revealed at any meal.Rose's gift forces her to confront the truth behind her family's emotions - her mother's sadness, her father's detachment and her brother's clash with the world. But as Rose grows up, she learns that there are some secrets even her taste buds cannot discern.The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is about the pain of loving those whom you know too much about, and the secrets that exist within every family. At once profound, funny, wise and sad, this is a novel to savour.Now available to preorder- Aimee Bender's new novel, The Butterfly Lampshade

“Intriguing and poignantly written”

PA Life
A book with such beautiful writing that sometimes I have to stop and taste a sentence a second time -- Jodi Picoult Grazia
A wonderful metaphor for the child's sense of things that are never mentioned, and Bender writes with wit, warmth and insight The Times
Quirky, engaging tale of a family endowed with unlikely gifts, the ties that bind people barely conceal the chasms that divide them Guardian
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake has at its heart an intriguing and poignant comment on the perils of childhood ... Bender brilliantly dovetails Rose's condition into a parable of the dangers of knowing too much about people, especially your family ... it is fresh and beautifully written The Sunday Times
A beguiling, offbeat book that reads like a poem Daily Telegraph
Intense, strange and incredibly moving, it captures the magic and the romance of the unknown. With nods to both Chocolat and The Time Traveler's Wife, this is a beautifully written book and one that you will want to talk about long after you have finished reading it. Elle
A lovely book, warm and comforting with moments of sadness and brilliantly written Bookseller
Haunting... Bender's prose delivers electric shocks... Moving, fanciful and gorgeously strange People Magazine
[A] transformative narrative... powerful San Francisco Chronicle

AIMEE BENDER is the author of the novel An Invisible Sign of My Own and of the collections The Girl in the Flammable Skirt and Wilful Creatures. Her work has been widely anthologised and has been translated into ten languages. She lives in Los Angeles. Read more about Aimee Bender and her work at

The New York Times Bestseller 'A book with such beautiful writing that sometimes I have to stop and taste a sentence a second time' Jodi Picoult 'In this quirky, engaging tale of a family endowed with unlikely gifts, the ties that bind people barely conceal the chasms that divide them' Guardian 'Intense, strange and incredibly moving, it captures the magic and romance of the unknown' Elle

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.