Set in a small town in Texas in the 1960s, where there “wasn’t a lot to pick from summer job-wise: counter girl at Jerry’s Dairy King, shampoo girl at Babs’s Tint ‘n’ Clip,” or the maid job at the Bluebonnet Motel, WORLD OF PIES (Hyperion; June 14, 2000; $18.95) introduces readers to a young girl, Roxanne, as she begins to come of age.
Roxanne is twelve years old and crazy about baseball in 1962, the year of a pie baking contest that will change her life forever. Readers get a first-hand glimpse at Roxanne as she witnesses her first piece of racial politics, when her mother makes an issue of the fact that a neighbor is entering a pie baked by her black maid under her own name. The summer of 1962 brings Roxanne her first glance of life that isn’t always fair, yet readers still return to the warmth and coziness of small town life where Roxanne is blossoming into a young woman.
In other exquisitely written vignettes that add up to a delightful episodic novel, Roxanne can be found debating the virtues of nail polish and makeup with her best friend, or trying to figure out what sort of summer job is available in such a small town as Annette. When Roxanne decides to pursue a job as a housekeeper at The Bluebonnet Motel, she imagines that she will be outfitted like an elegant French maid. Much to her dismay, she learns that the reality is much less appealing. And in yet another wonderful piece, the appearance of a new mailman–who is a woman–in town provokes curiosity, admiration, and even a schoolgirl crush.
When Roxanne’s parents abruptly declare that they are going to have another child, Roxanne is ashamed and embarrassed. She notices that her mother has strands of gray hair and that her father is going bald. They are just too old to have another child!
Finally, Roxanne’s family, including her new sister Joanie, is devastated by the death of Roxanne’s father. It is then that Roxanne’s extended family–her aunt, uncle, and cousin–become even larger figures in her world.
Roxanne matures, leaves Annette, has her own family, and even sees her own mother get remarried. But what is most compelling about the detailed stories is the way problems recede into the cozy embrace of a small town in Texas, where a pie baking contest is the biggest event of the season, but still, it’s the perfect place to live
And if that isn’t enough to satisfy the appetite of a treat of a novel, the recipes following each chapter–which include Aunt Ruthie’s Cinnamon Rolls, Mabel’s Angel Food Cake with Chocolate Sauce, and of course Miss Cherry Pie–evoke a sweet sensation that makes Annette, Texas seem more like home than anywhere else in the whole world. Filled with a unique blend of just the right ingredients–love, compassion, and humor, readers will enjoy the smells, tastes, and comforts of Annette long after they finish WORLD OF PIES.