Kim Fay

  The #1 Indie Next Pick, in the vein of the classic 84, Charing Cross Road and Meet Me at the Museum, this witty and tender novel follows two women in 1960s America as they discover that food really does connect us all, and that friendship and laughter are the best medicine. When twenty-seven-year-old Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter--as well as a gift of saffron--to fifty-nine-year-old Imogen Fortier, a life-changing friendship begins. Joan lives in Los Angeles and is just starting out as a writer for the newspaper food pages. Imogen lives on Camano Island outside Seattle, writing a monthly column for a Pacific Northwest magazine, and while she can hunt elk and dig for clams, she’s never tasted fresh garlic--exotic fare in the Northwest of the sixties. As the two women commune through their letters, they build a closeness that sustains them through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the unexpected in their own lives. Food and a good life—they can’t be separated. It is a discovery the women share, not only with each other, but with the men in their lives. Because of her correspondence with Joan, Imogen’s decades-long marriage blossoms into something new and exciting, and in turn, Joan learns that true love does not always come in the form we expect it to. Into this beautiful, intimate world comes the ultimate test of Joan and Imogen’s friendship—a test that summons their unconditional trust in each other. A brief respite from our chaotic world, Love & Saffron is a gem of a novel, a reminder that food and friendship are the antidote to most any heartache, and that human connection will always be worth creating.

Love & Saffron

A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love

Love and Saffron

'Like a dinner with friends you won't want to end' - J. Ryan Stradal, author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest 'Warm, delicious, and absolutely satisfying-I devoured in one enthusiastic gulp!' - Meg Waite Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Train to London When twenty-seven-year-old Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter - as well as a gift of saffron - to fifty-nine-year-old Imogen Fortier, a life-changing friendship begins. Joan lives in Los Angeles and is just starting out as a writer for the newspaper food pages. Imogen lives on Camano Island outside Seattle, writing a monthly column for a Pacific Northwest magazine, and while she can hunt elk and dig for clams, she's never tasted fresh garlic - exotic fare in the Northwest US of the 1960s. As the two women commune through their letters, they build a closeness that sustains them through the unexpected changes in their own lives. Food and a good life - they can't be separated. It is a discovery the women share not only with each other, but with the men in their lives. Because of her correspondence with Joan, Imogen's decades-long marriage blossoms into something new and exciting, and in turn, Joan learns that true love does not always come in the form we expect it to. Into this beautiful, intimate world comes the ultimate test of Joan and Imogen's friendship - a test that summons their unconditional trust in one another. 'A genuine pleasure. You'll want to share it with everyone you call friend' - Louise Miller

a novel of friendship, food, and love

Teaming up in 1925 Shanghai to find a priceless set of scrolls believed to contain the lost history of the Khmer empire, Irene Blum and temple-robber Simone Merlin commit a shockingly violent act before discovering unexpected commonalities in their respective pasts. A first novel by the award-winning author of Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam. 30,000 first printing.

A Novel

The Map of Lost Memories

The one thing to remember about an adventure is that if it turns out the way you expect it to, it has not been an adventure at all . . . Shanghai, 1925. Irene, a museum curator (and, unoffically, a treasure hunter) is searching for a set of legendary copper scrolls which describe the forgotten history of Cambodia's ancient Khmer civilisation. Her mentor has sent her to China to enlist the help of Simone, a mercurial Frenchwoman who - along with her notoriously violent husband, 'the most dangerous man in the Orient' - has a reputation for both stealing artefacts and starting revolutions. Irene and Simone set off through the Cambodian jungle to search for the scrolls, but it soon becomes clear that each is determined to acquire them for her own reasons, and that once they have located them it will be every woman for herself . . . Gripping, evocative, lavish and thrilling, this is an unforgettable book that was listed as one of Amazon's top 100 Breakthrough Novels before it was even finished.

A stunning, page-turning historical novel set in 1920s Shanghai

The Instant National Bestseller and #1 Indie Next Pick In the vein of the classic 84, Charing Cross Road, this witty and tender novel follows two women in 1960s America as they discover that food really does connect us all, and that friendship and laughter are the best medicine. When twenty-seven-year-old Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter--as well as a gift of saffron--to fifty-nine-year-old Imogen Fortier, a life-changing friendship begins. Joan lives in Los Angeles and is just starting out as a writer for the newspaper food pages. Imogen lives on Camano Island outside Seattle, writing a monthly column for a Pacific Northwest magazine, and while she can hunt elk and dig for clams, she’s never tasted fresh garlic--exotic fare in the Northwest of the sixties. As the two women commune through their letters, they build a closeness that sustains them through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the unexpected in their own lives. Food and a good life—they can’t be separated. It is a discovery the women share, not only with each other, but with the men in their lives. Because of her correspondence with Joan, Imogen’s decades-long marriage blossoms into something new and exciting, and in turn, Joan learns that true love does not always come in the form we expect it to. Into this beautiful, intimate world comes the ultimate test of Joan and Imogen’s friendship—a test that summons their unconditional trust in each other. A brief respite from our chaotic world, Love & Saffron is a gem of a novel, a reminder that food and friendship are the antidote to most any heartache, and that human connection will always be worth creating.

Shanghai, 1925. De Amerikaanse Irene Blum, een museumconservator met een mysterieus verleden, heeft aanwijzingen gevonden voor het bestaan van een set geheime koperplaten die de verloren geschiedenis van het verdwenen volk van de Khmer beschrijven. In een stad waar niets is wat het lijkt, zit echter niemand te wachten op de waarheid. Daarom schakelt ze de hulp in van tempeldief Simone Merlin. Terwijl Irene en Simone hun zoektocht voortzetten naar Saigon en Phnom Penh, sluiten meerdere avonturiers zich bij hen aan: Irenes geliefde Marc Rafferty, Louis Finot, de opziener van een Cambodjaanse tempel, en een mysterieuze vrouw genaamd Clothilde. Ieder blijken ze zo hun eigen redenen te hebben om de tocht te ondernemen. In de onherbergzame jungle gaan ze de strijd aan met het Franse bewind en de inheemse bevolking en met elkaar `Sfeervol, lyrisch en zo mooi geschreven dat het haast pijn doet. Publishers Weekly Kim Fay groeide op in Washington en studeerde journalistiek. Ze is verslaafd aanreizen. Vier jaar lang woonde ze in Vietnam, waar haar carrière als auteur van (culinaire)reisboeken begon. Momenteel woont ze in Los Angeles. De verloren geschiedenis is haar eerste roman.

twee vrouwelijke avonturiers op jacht naar een verdwenen volk

De verloren geschiedenis

Having fallen in love with Vietnam during the four years she lived there in the 1990s, Kim Fay returns for a five-week journey from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. Accompanied by her photographer sister and best Vietnamese girlfriend, she travels beyond the world of cyclos, conical hats, and war to savor the countrys cuisine. As well as cooking with top chefs, she becomes obsessed with clam rice in the imperial city of Hue, uncovers the secret world of ragu in the French hill town of Dalat, and learns the art of home cooking in cosmopolitan Ho Chi Minh City. Exploring how we eat reflects who we are as individuals and as a community, Fay offers a poetic journey and literary feast for armchair epicures, accompanied by recipes and full-color photography.

Kim Fay

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