Sourdough by Robin Sloan

Is it wrong to say you devoured a book about food?  Well if it is then I am happy to be wrong.

This is an intelligent book, one that makes you examine your own work life balance and encourages you to follow your passion.  Above all that, it is just a darned good story that sucks you in and holds you in it's warmth.

The main protagonist, Lois, is warm and relatable.  Consistently putting work ahead of what she needs as a person until she discovers the food, and the music, of the Magz.  Nothing soothes her stressed mind and body quite like it and when she starts her venture into baking bread she finds that it too brings the calm she craves.  When she is invited to join the Marrow Fair she discovers much more about herself and life itself than she thought possible. 

There are clear metaphors within this book.  None more so then when Lois and Agrippa are discussing the building blocks of both cheese and bread, the micro-organisms.  Never before have I thought about both being created by a battle, a war raging interminably for superiority that gives each their unique texture and flavour.  Survival of the fittest in microscopic form.

I was completely sucked in by the sumptuous use of language and then by the story itself.  So much so I was nearly late for work as I just had to finish the book and that really doesn't happen very often at all.  The story itself is gentle, no romance, no interminable back-biting; just the tale of a young woman finding her passion and striving to incorporate it in a way which will benefit her life.  A tale of making connections with other people and starting to forge new friendships in a strange town.

I absolutely loved this book and feel that it is it's own special genre - a book that uplifts no matter age, gender, sexual proclivity or religion.  It is simply about life and how one, fictional, person made hers that little bit better.  It made me want to make mine that little bit better too but not by taking on a mutant sourdough starter that's for sure.  You won't cry reading this book but you may well laugh and you will feel hungry for bread slathered in butter and salt.

My gut reaction is that this will be a book for future English Literature curriculums.  There are depths of metaphor that can be mined to a fair depth and it is engaging enough that even the most recalcitrant reader will probably get a kick out of being entertained by the written word.

I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.

**Review originally published December 17th, 2017**