A Place at the Table by Susan Rebecca White

[Krbustillos]

I give this book 4 stars out of 5. I lived in the South for 2 years and when I came across this newly acclaimed Southern writer with great reviews I had to read her story. This was the first novel by Ms. White that I had read and I was incredibly happy I did. This is the type of book to read on a crisp early morning with a cup of coffee, snuggled on the couch while the sun is rising. Ms. White brings the lives of 3 characters together; who in the beginning don’t make sense of why or how but at the end ties so beautifully together all based in New York City during the 1980’s. The book is separated into parts that tell the story of each character with a closing part to intersect them all

The first character, which this book revolves around, is an elderly African American cook who is critically acclaimed for her Southern cooking with a modern twist to present to the New York crowd. In Café Andres where she is a chef and part owner, Alice using the kitchen as an outlet to cope with the difficult childhood she faced in North Carolina during the Depression.

The second character White introduces to us is Bobby, a young gay man from Georgia who is disowned by his family. Bobby finds his way in the city of New York as soon as he turns 18, looking for a new life. Soon to find out that he is a gay man during the AIDS epidemic and what the character describes as the “gay man cancer.”

The last character that White presents to us is a middle-aged married woman named Amelia. As her and her husband Cam become empty nesters, Amelia comes to realize that her two daughters being away is not the only thing that is hindering her 20 year marriage. Amelia struggles with her self-esteem and distorted body image but finds solace in the kitchen, cooking up different recipes in her chef’s kitchen. After some twists and turns in her marriage, her life of being married to a Southern socialite will change and Amelia finds herself on a different path to self discovery.

The last part of the book is how Susan Rebecca White ties all three of these characters together. A Place a the Table is a story for those who may have felt some loss and discomfort in their lives. It is about the journey of life and how strangers, friends and even family come and go. These stories will make you question and self evaluate your own life but in a poetic and beautifully written way.