Tarnished Beauty
When Jamilet is born in a tiny, poor Mexican town, it is only her mother's family who accepts her. A mottled red and windingly-corded birthmark covers her from her neck to knees and marks her as a pariah. After excruciating attempts to remove it fail, it is the comment of an American family for whom Jamilet's mother works that determines her destiny.
Their mention of a doctor in the States becomes Jamilet's dream and, when her mother dies, she decides she must pursue it. Illegally crossing a treacherous border river and making her way to her aunt's in Los Angeles, Jamilet obtains false ID papers and begins a job in a mental institution, taking a job that no one else seems to have been able to keep. Her only patient is an older man, on the fifth floor of the hospital by himself. Her only task is to do his bidding and not engage him, or be engaged by him, in conversation. In puzzlement, but in need of the job, Jamilet does as ordered and it is not until the patient comes across her illegal papers that things change. He proposes a deal. He will not disclose her illegal status if she does just one thing-listen to his story. He will return her papers to her once his tale is complete. Intrigued with the man's request, and in need of the job as well as her papers, she agrees.
The old man's story begins with him as a young man and tells of a religious trek that began with a small band of pilgrims along the legendary Road to Santiago in Spain. Intended as a holy journey of faith, he finds something along the path as strong and enduring as his religious faith. In the telling, he forms a bond with Jamilet that serves as a healing force for both of them. As Samartin's book takes us between the dusty roads of Spain and the paved sidewalks of Los Angeles, her writing immerses the reader in the story, leading them along with her characters' journey and engages us in every aspect of her deft prose.
Compelling, worthy, and rewarding, Tarnished Beauty is an engaging and extraordinary novel.
Hello, Cupcake
With the subtitle claiming, "Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make," authors Karen Tack and Alan Richardson prove, beyond a doubt, how true their statement is. Using little more than cake mixes, canned frostings, a ziplock bag, simple candles, and pieces of candy, Hello, Cupcake offers a vast array of ways to decorate with cupcakes to meet the theme of any occasion. Acclaimed food photographer Richardson backs up the claim with colorful photos of their fanciful fare. From alligators, sharks, and princesses to slumbering babes, cats, dogs, and horses, and beyond, to a recreation of Van Gogh's "Starry Night"-the whimsical, edible delights bring cake decorating to a new level. An opening guide offers tips to the decorating secrets: edible "designables" to create hair, eyes, flames, tails, and even straw-then follows with quick tips for frosting design using a snipped ziplock bag. Of course, homemade cupcakes from the die-hard baker are perfect as a base as well. And if cakes are your preference, many of the designs are adaptable to the larger size.
Author Karen Tack is a cooking teacher and food stylist, and has styled for a variety of publications including Women's Day, Family Circle, Real Simple, and Bon Appetit, and has been dubbed "the cake whisperer" by Gourmet. Alan Richardson's work has appeared in a number of women's magazines and has won him two awards from the International Association of Culinary Professionals.