In Eat Cake Jeanne Ray touches the issues of the sandwich generation, adults who find themselves raising their children while simultaneously care-giving their parents. Compound this with her husband's layoff from a high paying executive position and his decision to go out on his own and restore sailboats for profit. Her mother lives with them, they have a son in college with the financial burden that implies, a teenage daughter who is in the rebellious stage, top this precariously charged household situation with Ruth's estranged bar-hopping piano player father who breaks both wrist and moves in. Did I mention that her parents can't stand each other?
How does Ruth navigate the craziness and keep her sanity, she bakes cake! She not only bakes, but she escapes through visualization, "A place [to] feel completely safe and peaceful" when she needs to center due to immense stress: " . . . I finally closed my eyes and tried, what I wanted came to me with complete clarity. The place that I went, the place that I still go, was the warm, hollowed-out center of a Bundt cake."
Eat Cake is a story of family, forgiveness, connecting--or reconnecting, growth and recreating yourself. It's a book I remember fondly and recommend often. So many laugh out moments. Finally, the book is about dreams, and following them.
I highly recommend Eat Cake.
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