The Way Life Should Be

The first Christina Baker Kline novel I read, like most people, was Orphan Train. I found the story so engrossing, and I was surprised that I had never heard of the orphan trains before.

After that, I read Sweet Water by Ms. Kline and was happy to report that I enjoyed that one as well. I just finished another book from Kline's backlist, The Way Life Should Be, and I found this book the best of the three.

Angela is a 33 year-old single woman living in Manhattan, with a burgeoning career as an event planner for an art museum. She has a big event coming up that could bring her into the big time if it all comes together.

She has a loving father, a grumpy stepmother, and an Italian grandmother who loves Angela dearly. Nonna taught Angela all show more about Italian cooking, and Angela always enjoyed spending time in the kitchen with her.

The only thing missing in her life is true love. When her friend Lindsay meets a wonderful guy through online dating, Angela decides to give it a try. She finds a man who runs a sailing school in Maine, and they begin an online romance.

Angela has a picture in her mind of a quaint Maine cottage by the sea, her and her man living together in blissful love. When things go badly at work, she decides to pick up and move herself to Maine to give love a try with her online beau.

There are bumps along the way, but Angela sticks to her guns and is determined to stay in Maine. She starts hanging out a local coffeehouse, and the owner Flynn, an Aussie transplant who followed his heart (and a man too, like Angela), becomes her best friend and offers her a job.

She finds a tiny, dilapidated cottage (nothing like her dream) and convinces Flynn to redecorate the coffeehouse and offer homemade pastries and soups for lunch. Flynn persuades Angela to offer cooking classes, and she makes some new friends.

This book has so much that ticked all my boxes- Angela is a strong woman, Flynn is adorable, there are lots of delicious descriptions of food (recipes included), a group of interesting new friends (with secrets) and a setting that is new to me (I must visit Acadia National Park).

As someone who has planned events, I found that part of the story fascinating. And any book that has food at its core, if it is well done like this is, will always appeal to me. I also liked that the characters are not one-dimensional (except the wicked stepmother). Angela's boyfriend Richard could have been the stock guy-who-is-really-a-jerk, but Kline gives him shades of color that made him more interesting.

The relationships- Angela and Nonna, Angela and Flynn, Angela and Lindsay- are so believable, you wish you were Angela. I will warn you that The Way Life Should Be will inspire you to dig out all of your food utensils and give Angela's recipes, like Pasta e Fagioli, Chicken Marsala and Basil Marinara, a try.

When Tom asks Angela who she really is, she thinks "the stories we tell about ourselves are filled with half-truths, distorted recollections, and blind spots as well as occasional moments of insight. It's all in the spin, isn't it?" And, I for one, liked the spin of Angela's story. show less

When Angela packs it all up and moves to Maine for lust, it isn't all bad. After all, she got the energy to move, didn't she? Lust does always make love follow and, in this case it didn't but Angela is determined to stick it out until she has an epiphany. Her new group of friends, verrrrry interesting folks! - help her along and her beloved Nonnie back in New Jersey has taught her all she really needs to know about life. Food will basically fix anything.

Out a few years ago, I loved this book and did, in fact, want all the characters to come over for supper!

This is not typical of the kinds of books that I read. It is a romance (sort of) but there is more than that going on. Angela Russo sets her sights on a man that she meets on the internet. Things do not work out between them, BUT....that is a good thing for Angela. It gives her the chance to do what heart tells her to do.

Angela's love for cooking she inherits from her Italian grandmother (Nonna). Nonna lives with Angela's father and stepmother, and teaches Angela many lessons. Nonna confides in Angela a deep dark secret that no one else knows about. This secret gives her pause to think about her own life and how she wants to live it.

My Thoughts: This is a "feel good" story about a woman who changes her path in life, and finds happiness show more along the way. I admire this character in what she accomplishes on her own. This novel warmed my heart while reading it, and left me content as a cat in a sunny window upon finishing it! show less

Angela is running on auto-pilot as an event planner in New York City when she makes a mistake that causes her to lose her job. She turns to the guy she met through an online match service and leaves for Maine to "find herself." I do not approve of pre-marital or extra-marital sex, and this book had too much of the former for my tastes. I did enjoy the descriptions of cooking and food throughout this book. I enjoyed the part of the plot that related to cooking, food, and to the friends she made on the island. I enjoyed her interaction with her Italian grandmother who taught her to cook.

Three things drew me to this novel. First, it takes place in Maine. I’ve always wanted to live on the coast of Maine; it’s just so darn beautiful. Second, sometimes when I reflect upon my life, I think, “This isn’t what I signed up for; this isn’t the way life was supposed to be.” The third reason is the author, Christina Baker Kline. After reading, and loving, Orphan Train and A Piece of the World, Kline is one of my favorite authors and I want to read all the books she has published. And just icing on the cake, the front cover blurb is from Caroline Leavitt, an author I’m just discovering. So I ask you, “How could I resist this novel?”

Angela Russo lives in New York City and is thirty-three years old. She is an event show more planner for one of the lesser-known museums. On her office bulletin board is a cutout magazine photo showing a cottage on the coast of Maine. It portrays such a simple life; the life Angela has always wanted.

With her love life is nonexistent, she decides to look into some internet dating sites. A profile name MaineCatch. He’s thirty-five, has ice-blue eyes and lives in Cushing, Maine. Angela spends more time mooning over MaineCatch than she does thinking about the big fundraising event she is planning for the museum. She has to go to Boston on business, and luckily, MaineCatch sails down to meet her. The sparks fly.

When the event goes horribly, horribly, horribly wrong, Angela is fired from her job. She decided to move north to be with her catch. Things go horribly, horribly wrong; seems she has misunderstood MaineCatch’s intentions.

Without a job to return to, Angela decides to stay in Cushing. She finds a little shack to rent that she can renovate, gets a job in a local coffee house, and begins to rebuild her life. The knack for the Italian cooking she learned from her grandmother rises to the surface.

The novel is written in first person, which I think helps add immediacy to the story while Kline’s scenic description have me longing to pack me bags and head Northeast. I was able to live vicariously through Angela. I could barely put this story down and I didn’t want it to end. I hope in the future Kline writes a follow-up novel. The Way Life Should Be 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. show less

This book falls into the category of cooking-school-find-yourself-romance books, with a Maine setting and a lot of recipes for Italian dishes.

Angela Russo, 33, is fired from her job as an events planner in New York City, and on a whim, packs up her things and drives to Maine. She had always been intrigued by the idea of a romantic cottage on the Maine coast, and had even initiated a real-life relationship with a guy she discovered through an online dating service calling himself “MaineCatch.” She initially goes to stay with “MaineCatch” (who is actually Richard Saunders), on a small Maine island called Mount Desert. But Rich is a “player” who is not really interested in anything serious with Angela. Now homeless, jobless, show more and without romantic prospects, she gets assistance from a local barista, Flynn, who gives her a job and helps her find a place to live.

Angela hadn’t been all that attached to her dad and stepmom, but had a close relationship with her Italian grandmother, Nonna, who taught her to prepare food with love and skill. This knowledge serves her well in Maine, after she starts preparing treats for Flynn to sell in the shop. The customers pour in, and Flynn helps Angela set up cooking classes. Thus, Angela gradually finds new friends, a new purpose to life, and maybe even love.

Discussion: If you like cooking and/or Italian food, you are bound to enjoy this book, which includes a number of recipes. I also appreciated the fact that Flynn, who is gay, is not a caricature, but just a regular very nice guy. show less

1st part = 1.5 stars. 2nd part = 3 .5 stars. Started out as silly nonsense with a woman making ludicrous choices. The second part was sweet and satisfying. I loved the cooking scenes and the way food and traditions connect generations.