Not all books need to have something catastrophic or crazy happen. Or take you into the Red Room of Pain ...Sometimes, a good book makes you feel comfortable and cozy. It makes you worry about its hero and want the best for its characters. It sticks with you. You miss the characters when it's over, and you want to find out what happens next in their lives. When I read Eileen Goudge's The Replacement Wife, I was captivated, and I was angry when it ended because I wasn't ready to let go of those characters.Yesterday's News is along those lines. You come to care so deeply for Agnes that when Kajsa Ingemarsson ends her story, you feel empty, if not a tad aggravated. NOW? You end it NOW? But I'm not ready! What happens to Agnes?Before you pick up this book, you first need to make sure that you have a full stomach, because Yesterday's News takes place in a restaurant. Agnes has worked in restaurants for ten years, eventually earning her way toward being a head waitress. But when her boss makes a crude pass at her and she costs him an expensive bottle of wine, it's time to find a new job. She meets up with Kalle, an old friend who is starting his own restaurant, and she agrees to join him in his venture.The Yellow Lemon Tree will feature Mediterranean-style food, and Agnes convinces two former waitstaff pals to join her on the floor. In the kitchen are Filip and Paolo, the latter of whom Agnes recently met and spent quality time with. Yesterday's News takes you from the weeks before the restaurant's opening to the month or so afterwards, as Kalle and his staff struggle to establish their culinary endeavor. What would help, they all agree, is a favorable review in the local Stockholm paper.Ingemarsson peppers her story with Agnes's family, her best friend Lussan, and a quirky neighbor given to playing Bob Dylan very loudly. And repetitively.Agnes is a needy person, but not in a bad way. She requires order and safety in her life, all the more now that her boyfriend Tobias dumped her. A lot happens to her throughout the book, some of it good, some of it sad. Ingemarsson created a character who we like - a lot! We want Agnes to heal her broken heart, to experience success in the restaurant, and to help her family through their struggles. We want her to be happy. Agnes doesn't always make it easy; she's too quick to see what she wants to see in her friends, family and especially Tobias.That was the kind of guy he was. Self-confident, thought Agnes. And even though she could feel threatened by his fickleness she wished that she too could let go like that. Live in the here and now, stop booking laundry times a month in advance and paying her bills on time. Trust that everything would work itself out. Tobias didn't need a fixed abode or fixed plans. He wanted to be his own mater in charge of his own time. She, who was everything Tobias wasn't - orderly, organized, structured - found it hard keeping up. Ingemarsson tells us so much in those lines. Clearly, Tobias is not good for Agnes, but where we see irresponsibility and self-focus, Agnes sees admirable charm. Yet we root for her, and when she leaves us at the novel's conclusion, we miss her.Yesterday's News is a wonderful story focused on interesting characters. It's a romance, a sort of delayed coming-of-age, and a character study. It's just good, faithful readers.Published on cupcake's book cupboard. @VivaAmaRisataThanks to NetGalley for the preview.
По ходу повествования будут спойлеры!К сожалению, все оказалось немного хуже, чем ожидалось. А ведь фраза автора о том, что она гордится, что ее читают мужчины, орала же во всю глотку БЕГИ ОТ БАБСКИХ СОПЛЕЙ. Хотя, с другой стороны, для этого самого женского романа все развивается неплохо. Само собой, в самом начале главную героиню бросает парень, без этого никак в этом жанре. Интересно, а есть такие романы, но про лесбиянок? Я бы почитала. Увлекательно, наверное. Вообще, моя личная проблема, связанная с такими книгами это то, что я предугадываю сюжет. А автор, который не может меня удивить, меня не интересует. В этой книге я угадала, грубо говоря, 8 из 10 "резких" поворотов сюжета. Один не угаданный был про смерть матери ГГ, это, знаете ли, и заслужило книге целых три звезды, без этого 1,5 было бы в самый раз. Ведь это было неожиданно, что хорошо освежило сюжет, да и просто напросто запомнилось. Второй не угаданный момент был, что Агнес влюбится в Калле. Тут обойдемся без звезд.Теперь про причину, заставившую меня взять эту книгу в руки. Книга как бы о ресторанном бизнесе, но на самом деле нет. Автор в послесловии благодарит друзей за знакомство с кем-то там из ресторанного бизнеса, потому что она сама ничего про рестораны не знает. Немного не понятно, когда же произошло это знакомство, потому что из сюжета кажется, что таки после написания книги. Книгу мог бы написать каждый, кто был в ресторане 2-3 раза, там ровно столько от "знания" ресторанного бизнеса. Работу ресторанного критика даже вспоминать не буду, ее там нет, хотя вроде как о ней тоже пишется.В общем, любителям женского романа понравится, я так думаю. Но не уверенна, так как я совсем не любитель.
Do You like book Yesterday's News (2012)?
I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed this book. Not because it was a great romance or because I identified with Agnes, but because she was real, and because her life was such a train wreck.I couldn't grasp two things about her, why she didn't report the boss that sexually harassed her and then fired her and why she clung to Tobias. However, fear makes even the smartest women do stupid things, so I could try to see why she behaved the way she did.The secondary characters were what made the book so enjoyable. The problem for me reading it was trying to figure out some of the Swedish names, but once I got over that, it was smooth sailing.Another thing I loved about this book was the glimpse inside the creation of a restaurant, and how hard it is to stay afloat. That time in the book is a bit of downer, plus Agnes lost her mother then too. That was probably the most emotional part of the book.I really felt Kajsa did a great job writing about Maud's death, especially as she had been such an upbeat character.Some things in the book were a little predictable. If you don't guess who the restaurant critic is long before it is revealed, you aren't paying enough attention.It is a short summer read. Perfect for a day in the sun or by a hotel pool Relax and enjoy a good story.
—Andrea Guy
This book starts out telling you it is not going to be dark and brooding – a direct reference to the “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” books and it is not. Agnes Edin is a professional waitress who is fired by her lecherous French boss for refusing his advances and dropping a rare and expensive bottle of wine. She spirals into a depression when her loser musician boy friend drops her simultaneously. Agnes is a bit snarky and interesting, a Swedish version of Bridget Jones. Agnes eventually joins a former co-worker in his new venture and they open a restaurant with good food at a good location. But things get complicated, customer volume is too low to make ends meet, the awful dead-beat boyfriend returns, and family crisis and home town issues arise. The staff becomes focused on getting the local food critic to give them a great review…eventually there is personal growth and the ability to navigate out of bad relationships into something more promising. I really enjoyed this read but still cannot figure out why it is a runaway hit in Sweden. Good but not great.
—Denise
Well there are truly a lot of chic lit novels out there of various quality. This book differs in several ways. For one thing this novel is set in the capital of Sweden, Stockholm which I find is kind of exotic. The names of the streets and the atmosphere makes this book very appealing to me and stands out from the crowd. Maybe this was extra important to me since I’m of Swedish heritage.The story itself is your typical “reaching the bottom-climbing up again” story where the protagonist Agnes looses both her boyfriend and her job. But there are more to this story than that. What really makes this book stand out except from the Swedish setting is the importance of food in it! This novel is delicious to read and inspire you to cook and to really enjoy a good meal. The restaurant where Agnes starts working sets a tasty fond to the relational drama and adds a great value which makes this book something different in a field that we only know to well.
—Katarina
