From the Stacks
By Carol Ann Robb, PPL Reference Librarian
I often peruse the shelves of New Books on a Friday afternoon to look for a back-up book should I need one over the weekend. Because it’s possible I won’t like the book(s) that I already have at home, or I might finish the one I’ve started, or I might find a title that I just think looks better. Which is how I ended up taking home “The Townsend Family Recipe for Disaster” a couple of weeks ago.
As it turned out, I didn’t need a book that weekend so it sat for a good ten days before I picked it up; in fact, I read two others before I decided to give it a try. Which is when I realized the author, Shauna Robinson, also wrote a book I’ve read (“The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks”).
The first chapter intrigued me enough that I looked at the author’s bio on the inside back cover and read, “Shauna is an introvert at heart—she spends most of her time reading, baking, and figuring out the politest way to avoid social interaction.” That—and the fact she has a dog—was all it took to convince me to keep reading the book.
And I’m so glad I did. I really have nothing in common with Mae, the main character in the book, but oh, how I sympathized with her. Any writer who can make me relate to a mixed-race thirty-year-old planning her wedding while meeting her paternal side of the family for the first time knows her craft. Weave in family secrets and recipes and I was hooked on the story and fully invested in learning more about the Townsend family. I defy anyone to read this book and not identify with Mae’s sense of isolation—we’ve all been in situations where we feel out of place with no one to bond with it, whether it be a social event, a new family, or a move to a new town or job. Robinson certainly put her introverted ways to good use in writing this book.
I don’t want to spoil anything for future readers by giving away too many details—I want it to unfold organically as you read it. Just know it’s about a young woman with questions about her heritage, being accepted for who she is and not how she looks, and what truly makes a family. This book made me think, feel, laugh, and I admit to getting a little teary-eyed in places. “The Townsend Family Recipe for Disaster” is anything but and deserves to be much more than a “back-up book.”