Cooking for Ghosts

Do hearts broken long ago forever leave a tangible trace? A Vegas cocktail waitress. An Indian herbalist. A British chemistry professor. An Italian-American widow. Four unique women with one thing in common: each is haunted by a tragedy from her past. Cynthia, Rohini, Jane, and Angela meet on a food blogging site and bond over recipes. They decide on impulse to open The Secret Spice, an elegant café on the magnificent ocean liner, the RMS Queen Mary, currently a floating hotel in Long Beach, California. Rich in history and tales of supernatural occurrences, the ship hides her own dark secrets. The women are surrounded by ghosts long before they step aboard, but once they do, nothing is quite what it seems. Not the people they meet, not their brooding chef's mystic recipes, and not the Queen Mary herself. Yet the spirits they encounter help them discover that there's always a chance to live, as long as one is alive. An Official Pulpwood Queens Book Club Selection, COOKING FOR GHOSTS is an unforgettable tale of love, redemption, and divine female power.

From the Author:
Cooking for Ghosts is what the publishing industry calls 'magical realism.' It's many things, but one thing is it not is a straight-up mystery, so if you're looking for that, you might be disappointed. Does it have mysterious elements? Yes. Are there ghosts in the story? Definitely, but it's not a ghost story, either. Is there a love story? There certainly is, but again, that's only a part of the whole. Does it contain historical facts about the RMS Queen Mary? You bet it does, and I think you might find those facts as fascinating as I did when I first discovered them.
But at its heart, Cooking for Ghosts is the story of friendship, of how four females of very different backgrounds --- some of them wealthy, some of them marginalized --- come together and discover their commonalities. It's a story of fear and loneliness that's overcome. It's a story of relationships, it's a story of growth and change. It's a story of how being in a certain place and time with certain people can make for a wonderful difference in one's life. It's a story of daring, and of belief in oneself and one's friends.
All the men and women in the story are based on people I've met and experiences they've had and I've had. And the ship - the wonderful, majestic, RMS Queen Mary ... well, I fell in love with her. She is another remarkable woman, like the women in the story. She too has an extraordinary background, an extraordinary past.
I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please read the Author's Note for historical references, and you might also enjoy the Reader's Guide which contains videos and other fun tidbits that inspired me. I present this story with respect and affection and thanks to anyone who chooses to spend several hours reading something I have written. It's an honor and a pleasure. Happy reading.