cover image COOKING FOR HARRY

COOKING FOR HARRY

Kay-Marie James, . . Crown/Shaye Areheart, $21 (208pp) ISBN 978-1-4000-4502-0

James takes one part battle of the sexes and one part diet wars and, along with a soupçon of humor, whips up a treat with this cheeky romantic comedy. Pittsburgh physical therapist Francie Kligler has a rewarding career, a small herd of quirky but charming adult children, and a loving, quarter-century marriage to Harry, a shy computer programmer who also happens to be a brilliant chef ("He candied his own ginger, blanched his own almonds. He braised, he sautéed, he caramelized"). Unfortunately, Harry also eats too much of what he cooks: his doctor tells him that thanks to his eating habits, healthwise he's a "ticking bomb." Eschewing a life of salads, good ol' "I can't live without butter" Harry joins a nutritional study of low-carb diets, while Francine gamely (and slightly ineptly) takes over the cooking. But Harry's Atkins-style transformation from whale to near-whippet brings a host of ancillary problems, including a personality transformation that means more success at work but also opportunities for infidelity. James's warm way of chronicling the quirks of family life makes for a quick, engaging read, and she hits the mark with her lightly comic take on the support groups each partner joins to deal with the food dilemma. The ending that resolves the dalliances of both partners is formulaic and sappy, and James also stumbles into Erma Bombeck–style suburban clichés in several chapters. Beneath the light comedy, though, this novel offers some telling, sly commentary on our contemporary obsession with food and how it permeates, and sometimes dominates, our lives. (Feb.)

FYI: James is the pseudonym for a successful, apparently literary author ("I am amazed at the fun I had writing a "commercial" novel," she notes). Cooking was written with the help of an unnamed, financially struggling friend, with whom James is splitting the profits.