MY REVIEW OF “THE RECIPE BOX” BY VIOLA SHIPMAN

Viola Shipman, Author of “The Recipe Box” has written a delightful, charming and heartwarming story of family, love, tradition and change. The Genres of this novel are Fiction and Women’s Fiction. The story takes place in Northern Michigan and New York.

The author describes her characters as likable, resourceful, hardworking, and enterprising. Sam Mullins comes back to the family orchard and pie baking business and shoppes, after a major disappointment in New York City. Sam has trained as a specialty chef, and wanted to leave the family orchard to find herself. Now she finds herself back home.

Sam learns about the history of the women in her family, and how the orchard was saved by the women in the family. . All of the women had a recipe box with a special key to keep their treasured baking recipes a secret to be passed down to the woman in the family. The family loves to bake, and baking is symbolic to showing love and following tradition. There are some wonderful recipes that are shared with the reader.

Is their a recipe that will allow Sam to find where she should be and the answers to her dreams? What does the key to the recipe box represent? I recommend this enjoyable story to those readers of women’s fiction. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

Samantha had grand ambitions of going to New York City and becoming a great chef, but her mentor's terrible behavior has her quitting, then returning to her family's northern-Michigan orchard where she grew up. It was a good story, but there was a bit too much "strong woman" emphasis, neglecting the fact that the men in the family worked as hard and sacrificed as much to make the orchard a success.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Sam Mullins grew up on the northern Michigan apple orchard/farm her great-great-grandparents started; her family has been running it for the past 100 years. While she inherited her mom and grandma's love of baking, Sam longs to make her own mark on the world. After culinary school, Sam got a job working for the famous “Chef Dimples” in New York City. Working for him isn't what she expected, though, and after quitting in a dramatic fashion, Sam returns to her Michigan home to figure out what to do next.

This was a sweet family story but very heavy-handed with its message of the importance of tradition and family. Angelo also seemed unrealistic – he had no flaws and the patience of a saint with a woman who showed no signs of being interested in him. The thing that bothered me most, though, was the Family Apple Crisp recipe. This recipe was supposedly created by the family matriarch, Alice, who died in 1939 or 1940, yet it calls for Honeycrisp apples, which were first tested in 1974, patented in 1988, and not released to the public until 1991, well after Alice had died. This is a genre I usually enjoy, but this book was just OK.

Book Review: The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman
Review by Dawn Thomas

336 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Generational, Food

The book begins in 1939 with Alice watching her husband Leo walking home from the apple orchard with their dog Mac. When they come home with a basket of apples, Alice turns on the oven and begins to prepare an apple crisp (recipe included). Alice thinks about all the recipes she has made for the family and decides it is time to write them down. Leo surprises her with a wooden recipe box with a lock and key so she can keep the recipes a secret.

The story jumps to the summer of 2017 and Sam Nelson is on her way to work for “Chef Dimples.” It is obvious that Angelo, a fruit deliveryman, is in love with Sam but she does not see it. She wonders about her future and after an incident, she returns to the family orchard in Michigan. Sam does not want to be tied to the orchard like the generations of women before her. She wants to go out in the world and make her mark.

These are the recipes in the book.
Apple Crisp
Peach-Blueberry Slab Pie
Cider Donuts
Cherry Chip Cake
Tripe Berry Galette
Thumbprint Cookies
Ice Cream Sandwiches
Two Crust Pastry
Strawberry Shortcakes
Rhubarb Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Apple and Cherry Turnovers
Pumpkin Bars

The book is written in first person in the present tense. The recipes are wonderful and I cannot wait to make them. I enjoyed the book but thought Sam was wishy washy at times. She spends a lot of time bantering back and forth, whether she should stay or go. After a while, it was tiring and I wanted her to just make a decision and go with it. It was a pleasure to read about generations of women working and loving each other. I recommend this book to anyone that loves to bake.

Sam is at a crossroads in her life. She is trying to decide between working for the family orchard and pie pantry or remaining in New York and working for a renowned pastry chef. She has feelings for a produce delivery guy but she is trying to fight those. So many decisions to make and she seems to be unable to make a single one.
I will have to say that Sam's indecisiveness got pretty old but otherwise this was a very heartwarming and enjoyable book.

A charming, heart-warming story! This story is full of family love, traditions and cherishing the present moments as life can be shorter than we think. It showcases the importance of keeping and making new memories. You can spread your wings while still keeping a piece of home in your heart. It reminded me of baking with my mother when growing up in Wisconsin, not a far distance from Michigan. My mother was a terrible cook but a great baker. I still have and use her recipes.

I received an ARC of "The Recipe Box" from NetGalley for an honest review. I wish to thank NetGalley, Thomas Dunne Books, and Viola Shipman for the opportunity to read this book.

This is the third book of the three that Viola Shipman has written that I have read. Each book is lovelier than the previous. This story is about a young woman who comes from a family orchard/bakery in Michigan. It is a wonderful book about love, family, and baking!! The author also includes many yummy sweet recipes in the book that sound amazing!! What a treat - a great story with some family recipes!!

This is a definite recommend - I love the sweet story, yummy recipes, and feel-good appeal of the book!!

“You bake for someone because it is familial and familiar, new yet ancestral, a way of connecting generations.”

This was an easy book for me to get pulled into. The story is set among the backdrop of northern Michigan and New York City and follows Sam Mullins when she suddenly quits her dream job in New York City and returns home to Michigan. Her family is there with open arms, lots of encouragement and words of wisdom to help her decide what to do about her career and her love life.

The story flashes back and forth between Sam and her relatives, with the stories about their life at the Mullins Family Orchard and Pie Pantry and how they prepare it for future generations. It’s an inspirational story that will remind you of the importance of family. I liked how each section of the book was titled with a dessert and the recipe is pulled from the recipe box and prepared during that part of the story. The recipes are included after each section so you can recreate them. It even made someone like me, a non-baker, want to start baking. I had a hard time putting down this book. Not a detail was missed and everything was so vividly written that it felt very real to me. I could easily visualize this book as a movie.

This was an enjoyable multi-generational story that included all types of love! There is a romantic story line, a love for family and a love for home story line. It is also a coming of age story. Sam isn't sure what she wants, except she knows she loves to bake. The family orchard in Michigan isn't for her, or is it? Sam quits a job where she is underappreciated and not respected. She goes home for a surprise visit. She discovers how much she misses Angelo and her life in NYC. This the story of Sam coming to the decisions that are right for her, and understanding her history, her family history the orchard's history. Through the histories she discovers the future.

Viola Shipman has a way of making me long for and treasure my families memories and heirlooms, and making me want to start wonderful traditions like this for my children.

This book inspired me to get out my grandma's old recipe boxes and find new recipes to make for my family. I grew up baking with my other grandmother, just as Sam did, and I have always treasured those memories. This book spoke to my heart in such a glorious way.

This book was so well written and incredibly vivid, I was able to picture the orchard, smell the apples pies baking, and feel the pride at this wonderful family and business. I found myself so engrossed in this book that I didn’t even realize how much time had passed.

I loved this book and cannot wait for the next inspiring and heartwarming book by Viola Shipman.


*I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher. A positive review was not required. All opinions are my own.*

A sweet, enjoyable read that made me want to get into the kitchen and bake! The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman is one of those lovely stories that focuses on family, finding one’s self, and food. While at times it was a bit cloying for me, I ultimately really enjoyed this and loved the setting of northern Michigan!
Our main character is Sam, a sweet gal who loves to bake and is working in NYC when she loses her job and decides to head home to northern Michigan (near Traverse City area). I absolutely loved this setting! Viola Shipman makes northern Michigan sound like such a lovely place to live, with the orchards and lake, and I spent some time online looking at photos and real estate listings in the area, as it just sounded so enchanting.
When Sam returns home, she gets back into baking family recipes, and hears stories about the women in her family who came before her. The book is broken up into sections, each section focusing on one recipe, and how the recipe came to be such a loved family heirloom. The Recipe Box also contains the actual recipes, for example recipes for Apple Turnovers, or a Triple Berry Galette, or Rhubarb Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel Topping. I actually baked the Rhubarb Coffee Cake recipe, and it was really yummy! I’d definitely make it again when needing to use up some rhubarb from my garden.
The one thing about all these recipes is that each woman in the family has her own recipe box, and wears the key to the box on a necklace that she always wears. I found myself wondering about the logistics of this far too much! I wanted to know how long the necklaces were, as the book never specified taking the necklace off in order to open the recipe box, or bringing the recipe box up to ones neck to open with the key, easily being able to open the box, or having to bend down to kitchen counter level to open the box. I kept trying to picture these ladies all bringing the box up to their neck, and then not being able to see the keyhole, and having trouble with a neck kink! I can’t tell you how many times I was distracted by all of these thoughts, and while having a key around ones neck sounds like a cute idea, it was one that never really worked for me. And none of the recipes were really “secret” recipes from other family members, so I honestly didn’t get the key/locking point of it all.
The characters and plot are fairly predictable, but books like this are enjoyable in their predictability. This was a clean read, nothing graphic about this read at all, and it very much put me in the frame of mind to watch Hallmark movies! I recommend this book to those who enjoy sweet, clean reads with a focus on family, and for those who enjoy reading books about baking. I love reading books with a focus on food, as they always make me want to get into the kitchen and try making something new! This one was no exception.

Bottom Line: A lovely, sweet read that will leave you hungry for baked goods and longing to take a trip to northern Michigan!

Sweet as pie! This is my first book by Viola Shipman and I enjoyed her writing style and her story of love and family and tradition. Reading this brought back so many memories growing up with Mom baking and cooking and friends and family coming over to enjoy it. She still cooks on Sundays for family and almost always has a wonderful homemade cake or pie.

This is the story of Sam Mullins who is at a crossroads in life where she needs to make a choice - stay in New York as a pastry chef or go home to Michigan and work at the family orchard and pie shop. When she quits her job working for a narcissistic tv baker, Sam goes home to Michigan for a visit with her parents and grandmother. The story alternates between present day and stories of the past and how the family orchard began and grew into what it is now. Each chapter contains a special recipe from the recipe box.

There is a lot of good advice in these pages. I love how the story showed the great bonds between great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, and daughter throughout. Four stars for this one!

Many thanks to Viola Shipman and St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for an advance copy.

A story of generations of women bakers on the family orchard in Michigan. At age 13 the daughters are given a recipe box with a key., and recipes from the women who came before. Sam has grown up with this strong family tradition. She has moved to New York City to be a party chef and her place in life. On an unplanned trip home she searches for her life's meaning and where she belongs. The recipes look yummy, even if the apple crisp recipe is different from my mothers. If you like books with strong femal characters is a cozy setting then you will like this book.

The first thing I noticed about this book was that it is written with love-love for one's family down through the generations. This book tells the story of a family of women from Alice -the first woman in this family mentioned in 1939. Her husband is Leo and he loves her so much that he gives her a handmade recipe box with a lock on it that he tells her she should fill with all of her recipes for all their women relatives to come. Baking has become this family's way of living. They grow all their fruit right on their expansive property in Michigan, and each generation takes over the baking and each young daughter earns her own Recipe box at the age of thirteen.

At the heart of this story is Sam who is the one who wants to wander and make her own way. When she is 13 she too is given her own recipe box and gets her key which she wears around her neck just like her great great grandma, her great grandma and her grandmother Willo. Willo gave her daughter Deanna, Sam's mom her own recipe box too!

Sam goes to New York to college and starts working for a reality tv star Mr. Dimples, and he has no respect or caring for anyone. Finally she realizes it and walks off the job and goes home. The only good thing is that for this past year she had daily visits with Angelo Morelli who brings their produce and fruits in daily. Sam likes Angelo a lot but does not want to let him know it. As for Angelo he already knows how he feels, he loves her. Sam is not ready to take that leap of faith!

When Sam goes home she realizes the difference between her family and their history and all the friends that come every summer to pick apples and fruit for their own homes, and this is because of their family run business. It is because they can feel the love that goes into everything the family does.

Angelo decides to come see Michigan for himself and Sam goes to pick him up, and he loves what he sees. He loves what he feels and everyone welcomes him into their lives.

You will be surprised as I was that at the end of each section is a recipe, and this is what brings the point across to Sam. Her Grandma Willow always tells her

"PI =3.14159 (Who are we kidding? Pie =Love!)"
When Willo had gotten her recipe box her grandmother told her
"They're our family history. There is nothing more important than family and food."

There are so many good passages in this book I loved and I underlined so many passages but you will have to read it for yourself and see what happens.

This book is written with so much love and tells of good times, hard times, and how this family lives through their lives and brings new children and members into their family, and the author dedicated this book to her Grandma!

I gave the best rating for this outstanding book, and that is 5*****stars. I want to thank the author for this book and I intend to read more by Viola Shipman!

Thank you to NetGalley , St Martins Press, and Thomas Dunne Books for an advanced read in exchange for this review.

Sam had big dreams and left Michigan for New York. Unfortunately, New York is not what she had hoped. She returns home to her family orchard to figure out her life and its meaning.

First of all, each chapter in this book is named for a dessert with a recipe included! Your sweet tooth will definitely be on high alert. I enjoyed Sam as a character and admired her strong willed personality. However, I also felt that I did not know her. So much of this book is focused on food (which I love!), and it kind of takes away from the story of Sam and her life. Those two topics didn’t seem to connect completely for me. Also, I wanted so much more from the story and was disappointed when the ending happened too quickly. This is still an enjoyable and quick read, but I wished for more body.

Just couldn't get into the storyline. Couldn't keep my interest

Sam couldn't wait to get out of Michigan and her family's orchard and pie baking business. She had much grander dreams of being a chef in the big city. But after working for an ungrateful and just plain not nice Chef, she is ready to come home for a bit.

While Sam feels around for her own place in the world, her mother and grandmother share their recipe boxes and baking and as always with Shipman, sage advice and stories of family, love, relationships between mothers and daughters and how sometimes you may just need to take a second, and realize that everything you want has been right there in front of you.

The food descriptions are scrumptious! Oh my goodness I think at one point I was crying and drooling at the same time!

Excellent job as always!

NetGalley/March 20th 2018 by Thomas Dunne Books

Sam grew up on her family's orchard and couldn't wait to leave. After working in a bakery and issues with the chef, she returns homage and finds her family recipes and learns to understand the women in her family and begins again.

The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman is a heartfelt journey. Themes of family, love, and second chances are brought to life on these pages. I felt connected to the characters instantly. It was like I knew them for years. The pacing was steady yet emotional. The struggles were believable. Sam is a young woman who left her comfort to find her way in life. Only it did not turn out the way she had hoped. Frustrated and broken, Sam returns back home to find herself. Being back home, gave Sam all she needed. It was sweet, inspiring, and beautiful. Overall, I recommend it to all.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dunne Books for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was a sweet story of family, traditions and, of course, baking (with some wonderful recipes included)