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When Pilar
Castillo’s grandmother, Gabriela passed away, she never knew just how
much her
life would change. While going through
her grandmother’s things, Pilar finds diaries bound in black silk that
tell of
rituals that South American women have lived by for generations. These diaries tell of the proper ways to
seduce men, social etiquette’s and Pilar learns how to be the perfect
lady,
wife and lover from them. Pilar also
discovers that her grandmother was more than she ever knew and finds
what she herself
has been missing in her own life…
Through the
wisdom of her grandmother’s diaries, Pilar transforms into an even
stronger-willed
and passionate woman. The
Lady, the Chef, and the Courtesan
is a positively delightful read which shows different generations
between two similar,
yet vastly different women. Pilar learns
a lot through her grandmother’s words, and faces many of the same
choices
Gabriela was faced with. The
complexities and the hearts of both Gabriela and Pilar, really draw the
reader
in and learning of a different time and society keeps us hooked.
Travel from
the living room to the kitchen and the bedroom with Pilar and Gabriela,
women
who are strong and passionate and enjoy the journey of this family from
the
past to modern times. The
Lady, the Chef, and the Courtesan
touches the reader on many levels and leaves us pondering what we were
taught
at the knees of our own matriarchs.
Reviewed by Tracey West
for The Road
to Romance
February
9, 2004
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