Press

What the critics say

A book with such beautiful writing that sometimes I have to stop and taste a sentence a second time
- Grazia

A wonderful metaphor for the child's sense of things that are never mentioned, and Bender writes with wit, warmth and insight
- The Times

Quirky, engaging tale of a family endowed with unlikely gifts, the ties that bind people barely conceal the chasms that divide them
- Guardian

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake has at its heart an intriguing and poignant comment on the perils of childhood ... Bender brilliantly dovetails Rose's condition into a parable of the dangers of knowing too much about people, especially your family ... it is fresh and beautifully written
- The Sunday Times

A beguiling, offbeat book that reads like a poem
- Daily Telegraph

Intense, strange and incredibly moving, it captures the magic and the romance of the unknown. With nods to both Chocolat and The Time Traveler's Wife, this is a beautifully written book and one that you will want to talk about long after you have finished reading it.
- Elle

A lovely book, warm and comforting with moments of sadness and brilliantly written
- Bookseller

Haunting... Bender's prose delivers electric shocks... Moving, fanciful and gorgeously strange
- People Magazine

[A] transformative narrative... powerful
- San Francisco Chronicle

Extraordinary
- Time Out New York

[Bender] careens splendidly through an obstacle course of pathological, fantastical neuroses... brimming with a zesty, beguiling talent
- Publishers Weekly

Bender is the master of quiet hysteria... She builds pressure sentence by sentence
- Los Angeles Times

As delightful as its title suggests.
- Glamour

A truly unique exploration of turbulent family relationships and a young girl on the cusp of adulthood grappling with grown-up emotions.
- EasyLiving.com

The book initially reads like the familiar tale of a cosy, suburban middle-class LA household concealing frustrated lives behind an outwardly-cheery veneer. But by kicking the narrative left with the surrealist twist of Rose's psychic tastebuds it becomes so much more: an unpredictable meeting of modern magic and melancholic realism.
- The List

The book I wish I had written ... it's so clever
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Aimee Bender has got that cool, quirky American thing going on. Taking an unlikely premise - a girl who discovers she can taste emotions in food - she transforms it into a lovely, lonesome universal tale.
- marie claire

This is a moving and fantastical tale of the secrets and lies that lurk beneath the surface of a seemingly happy family.
- Prima

Ultimate weepy foodie book ... fabulous
- Red

It's a charming, funny, wistful novel, with serious things to say about feelings people hide and the nature of true nourishment
- Saga

Lose yourself in a fantastical gastronomical journey ... This novel explores familial love in an unexpected way, and you'll be hooked from the first taste
- She

This emotional and moving tale blew us away with its beauty
- Bella

It's as beautiful as it is strange. Bender writes such lyrical sentences, you pause over them in wonder. She has an unusual take on life; and makes even the ordinary extraordinary. It's a compulsive page turner. This book is already a best seller in America, and has been embraced by book clubs. I loved it. It's one of those books you don't want to finish - and even when you have - it stays in your mind. Bender has written three previous novels. I intend to savour them all
- Irish Examiner

This novel, in the style of stories like Chocolat, is a dreamy feast of gorgeous writing ... Gently, beautiful, odd, this is a story to sip and savour
- Dublin Evening Herald

An intriguing premise for an original novel about a family and its relationships
- Good Book Guide

Moving and highly original, this book will make you look at food in a whole new light
- Star