Reflect on The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake 💙

May peace be upon all of you reading this post ✌✌✌

We've only recently finished covering the whole novel (I think), but the research for this novel (for me), wasn't as tedious as The Secret Life of Bees. It was fun and I loved it, because it provided open-ended questions for us to explore. Plus, the out-of-the-world scenes such as when Joseph were thought to disappear into a chair or Rose having actually 'tasted' her mum's sadness through batches of baked cookies forced our minds to work together and make sense of the things we usually consider nonsense.

This activity of making sense was actually mind-numbing, but it was nonetheless a new experience. I get to survive a novel with no quotation (a feat I never thought I'd do), extracting invisible themes from such abstract scenes and have a laugh about Joseph's chair-feet!

To those of you searching for a challenging book to read, a good confusion to unravel, a knot in your heart to twist some more and a family to understand, we hope The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake helps you in the journey.

ABOUT THE TREES (pg 322)

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"There had been a report in the magazine. About a small island off the coast of central California where only a handful of people lived. At the rim of the island was an abundance of trees with a kind of stretchy, tasty bark, but the birds have taken over those trees and very few were surviving. One in particular fell over - an old elegant palm type, a beauty."

"It grew closest to the edge of the island, and despite its voracious roots, its enormous trunk, it was no match for the steady impact of beaks and thinner dirt and unprotected weather and the gopher holes that eroded its system below."

"Many trees in the second ring, up a little higher, had also been overtaken by animals, but some made it through-" "...and one of the trees in that area survived, reaching out sideways with tangled branches."

"Twenty yards in? The trees grew straight up. Plenty of room for elaborate roots. Birds alighted and flew off.  Gopher holes made no dents. The trees were strong, functional. They provided shade and oxygen."

- My thoughts; The island resembles Rose's heart. The trees nearest to the center of island are her parents. They are the strong ones; the people who make her who she is. They provided shelter and they gave birth to her; they serve as life lessons to Rose, who finally understood why the strength showcased and the weaknesses hidden are for their own good.

The trees in the second ring are her own abilities, to try and survive the real world. She has discovered how to live with her 'ability', step by step.

The trees closest to the edge was herself, as a child. She was, is, a beauty, but she was also a wreck. Rose was unable to understand her 'abilities' which led her to misunderstood herself. That part of her has fallen and replaced by the stronger trees nearer to the center :)

Regarding the last line of the novel, hmm ...

"Was it so different than the choice of a card-table chair, except my choice meant I could stay in the world and his didn't?"

Rose's way to handle her 'abilities' still enables her to live in the real world, and make contact with real people. She feels the emotions of people cooking her food. But if she wants to get away from that, she has alternatives; such as eating junk food, which is made by machines.

But Joseph, Rose's brother, we weren't quite clear on what his 'ability' is, but it surely didn't help Joseph in social relations. From his refusal to touch people incessantly, Joseph may get too connected to the object or person he touches. Since human are very complex in their thoughts and feelings, no matter whether they are normal or have Asperger's or Down's syndrome, the contents could overwhelm Joseph. In the case of a card-table chair, the people playing cards often play to win. So they must have hope. In that hope, Joseph finds solace. Maybe. Correct me if I make too little sense.

Love,
💥 Nadya.