Dreaming in Chocolate

Dreaming in Chocolate by Susan Bishop Crispell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It took me a long time to read this book after I checked it out. I must have just seen that it was a magical realism book written by Susan Bishop Crispell and placed it on hold without really reading the synopsis very closely, and when I started reading the book and learned it was about a young, single mom whose daughter was dying, I put it down. On the other hand, I didn't return it to the library, and eventually I picked it up again. I'm glad I did because it turned out to be less sad than I expected. Largely because of a) the lovely tone and b) the fact that Ella is the healthiest dying person you could imagine.

I loved the atmosphere of the book--a wintery small town in western North Carolina that actually felt much more like the New England setting of The Gilmore Girls than anything in the South. Still, the author is from North Carolina, whereas I've never been there, so I'll take her word for it.

It was pretty hard to believe that in such a small town where everyone knew everyone else, Noah could possibly NOT know that Penelope had had a daughter. He did visit a few times over the years, after all, and he was close with his family. And it was similarly unlikely that he wouldn't have been able to find out Ella's birthdate and do some math to figure out who the "mysterious" father was. So I had a hard time with some of the basic premises (these and others) of the story, which is what lowered my overall rating.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the characters, empathized with their pain, and wanted to smack them upside the head when they were being foolishly stubborn. Like the entire time Penelope refused to make the recipe for curing heartbreak that the apothecary table gave her--I mean, hello? At least make it to cure your mother's heartbreak? Or see that it could help with BOTH of your own sources of heartbreak? Or other people's? Honestly, girl!  Trust the table!

For readers' advisors: character and setting doorways. A smattering of swearing, especially later on in the book. No sex, although the main characters got as far as starting to remove some clothing. No violence. Winter setting that makes you want to curl up with some tasty hot chocolate, possibly of the magical variety!

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