Weekend Cooking: Mediterranean Barley Vegetable Stew

 My son is a vegetarian, thus I am always on the lookout for a recipe that will feed him well.  While searching my local news paper, I came across a dish with barley.  It sounded good, though I was concerned that he would turn his nose up at the spinach.  Turns out he liked it, a lot, he ate it three days in a row.

My mother was visiting this week and was happy to help prepare dinner.  She doesn't do a lot of cooking these days as she's been making dinner for the past 40 plus years and has had enough of that.  But to be my sous chef was just find.

First picture shows her sauteing the onions, shallots and garlic.  I realize that the shallots can be expensive, but if you can afford them, go ahead, they really do add to the flavours.

We had two discussion  of ingredients.  The first was arbitrarily resolved. The recipe called for two springs of fresh rosemary.  The amount shown in the next photo is what we decided upon.  I stripped the leaves from the woody stock and minced them finely.

I've not heard of Castelvetrano Olives and the recipe called for a half cup.  Both grocery stores I checked didn't have that variety.  A quick online search tells me that they are a lime green type olive.  I visited the blog GastronoMichael and he has a wonderful information page.  In place of the olives I put two teaspoons of capers.  Don't know how that changed the flavour; it was still a wonderfully flavourful dish.

The final step is stirring  in the spinach and a few other ingredients.  The spinach did look a bit out of place, but within a few minutes they had wilted and all was well.

Mediterranean Barley Vegetable Stew

2 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots, finely chapped

2 medium yellow onions, diced

796 ml (28 oz) can of chopped tomatoes

1 litre (4 cups) vegetable broth

2 springs fresh rosemary, minced

1 1/2 cup pearl barley

341 ml (12 oz) jar roasted red peppers, drained and cut into strips

5 oz fresh baby spinach

1/2 cup Castelvetrano olives, pitted and sliced

1 cup water

salt and ground black pepper to taste.

In a large sauce pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil.  Add the garlic, shallots and onions and saute until soft and translucent, about six to seven minutes.

Add the tomatoes, broth, rosemary and barley, then bring to a simmer.  Cover and continue to cook until the barley is tender, about 50 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.  Stir in the roasted red peppers, baby spinach, olives and water.  Cook until the spinach is wilted, about two minutes.  Season with salt and black pepper.  Serves 6.

Oops, big, big, oops.  I just noticed as I was typing out the recipe that I had only added half a cup of pearl barley.  The newspaper print was hard to read, I didn't notice that it really asked for one and a half cups.  That explains why my dish was more like soup.

This recipe is from The Record,  Wednesday, January 12, 2011.

Kiss at Your Own Risk by Stephanie Rowe

Fun, fun, fun and even more fun.  I can't recall the last time I read a book and had so much fun. 

Trinity Harpswell has been a 'Black Widow' since the time she was abducted as an infant.  If she kills one more man that she loves, this transformation will become permanent.


Blaine Underhill was imprisoned by an evil witch 150 years ago.  The witch's intent had been to turn him into the perfect male; cultured, sensitive to a woman's needs, skilled warrior, and skilled in the domestic arts.  Desperation has forced Blaine and his friends to make one last break for freedom.

Trinity and Blaine find that they must join forces if they are to achieve their goals, but will each survive the other.

I loved this book.  It was so funny, but it also had tender moments that brought tears to my eyes.  I had no problems believing that witches and cursed people existed alongside 'normal' people and that they could easily interact every day. 

It was interesting to watch the various women in the story and listen to what they said they wanted in a man: strong, protective, sensitive, domestic, attentive to her every needs, dominant.  At first I was confused by this.  I had thought that the author was introducing a strong woman who would be able to handle whatever came her way.  In the end, it seems that you can have all those attributes.  There are the public and private moments of each of the characters' lives and they wanted different facets of their men at different times and in different situations.

Stephanie has over twenty published novels in several different genre.  I am looking forward to reading more of her works.

Visit Stephanie Rowe's website
Thanks to Sourcebooks for my review copy.

Black Widow Spider photo courtesy Markley's Pest Elimination Services Inc.

Visit Bookcrossing.com to see where in the world this book is being read and released.

Needlework Tuesay - It's a sewing week

At the beginning of the year I kept insisting that I was going to sew this year.  I kept repeating it out loud for all to hear.  I don't really think I was believed.  I had to disprove the nay-syers.

Quite a while back I won a surpise assortment from Scott Hansen at Blue Nickel Studios.  Part of the package was a bunch of pieces from a layer cake.  They had been sitting on my sewing table for ages.  Finally I used my Marti Michell templates 16 (triangle) and 17 (half triangle) and cut them all up.  After what seemed ages of arranging and re-arranging, I came up with this portion of a thousand pyramd quilt.  First of all I was going to leave it at that point and make it into a cute doll quilt, but then I thought that it needed a bit more brown.  Sitting beside the brown was this really cool green and teal stripy fabric.  That settled the question of boarders.

I am planning to quilt it with loopy flowers similar to those shown on some of the central diamonds. 

Yesterday I drove to my mother's and brought her back to visit for several days.First activity was my local quilt meeting.  We were working on a community project.  Sewing tops for the comforters that the Mennonite Central Committee uses for their relief work.

This is what my mother and I finished last evening.

Here the rows are laid out and ready to be sewn together.  Fortunately that's all I have to do.  I will take it back to guild next month  and  someone else will layer and knot it.

I'd better get back to my sewing.


Marie, at Daisy's Book Journal has joined me to day with a needlework post.  She has included a picture of her finished afghan that we both did from the Bernat Knit along.

Papertoy Monsters by Castleforte

This is the most fun I have seen in paper in ages.  Hope you enjoy the book trailer as much as I did.

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

Truly Plaice was the largest baby ever born in Aberdeen County.  In fact she was so large that her mother died birthing her.  Throughout her infancy and childhood and into adulthood, she continued to grow.  The town doctor, Robert Morgan, had no answer for why Truly continued to grow, though he assured her and her father that she was healthy. 

Truly was not the only unusually resident of the county.  For many generations past, the rural doctor had been named Robert Morgan, a descendant of the first Robert Morgan who arrived at the close of the American Civil War.  The first doctor's wife, Judith Dyerson, was rumoured to have been a witch who had left behind her 'shadow book', a book of spells and potions.

These two people were drawn together by Truly's elder sister Serena, the total opposite of Truly.  She was skinny, fashionable and popular.

The first paragraph of this book gave me the promise of an exciting read:

The day I laid Robert Morgan to rest was remarkable for two reasons.  First, even though it was August, the sky overhead was as rough and cold as a January lake; and second, it was the day I started to shrink.

Spoiler Alert

This book was hard to put down.  I was intrigued by this growing giant and how gentle she was.  She adored by older sister and just wanted to be like her.  Yet the people in town just couldn't accept her.  Within a few short pages I was rooting for Truly.

As the story continued I became distracted by the quilt made by Judith Dyerson.  being a quilter myself, I wanted details, colours, stitches.  These details were slowly doled out as the story continued.  It sounds like the finest example of an embroidered quilt.  The flowers almost came to life for me as I read Truly's description.  The intricate details of the hand quilting had me breathless.  I don't know that I would be so daring with my hand quilting.

It is not often that a quilt plays the role of a main character in a novel, but this is the exception.  This story would not have been the same had the flowers been painted, or drawn.  At the time this story was set, the quilt would easily have been dismissed as un-important by any man in the house; it would have only be viewed as 'woman's work, nothing special'.  In this instance, that was a good and possibly intended outcome.  As the story unfolds, the true impact of the quilt becomes known and Judith's skill and cunning appreciated.

Author Tiffany Baker is working on her next novel, though I couldn't find any hint as to the topic.  I eagerly look forward to it's release. 

I did a bit of a search, but couldn't find that any quilters have put together a pattern for this quilt.  There are sufficient details within the story that one could be drawn and stitched.  White silk for the background of the embroidery and black satin, or perhaps velvet for the inner boarder....


Author Tiffany Baker's website
Cover photo credit - Hachette Book Group

Thanks to Bostick Communications for my review copy.

For a contrast and very different review, click to see what was written over at Hey, I want to read that.

Visit Bookcrossing.com and see whose reading this book and where it had been released.

Recipe Thursday - Afghan Biscuits New Zealand Style

My niece turned me on to these amazingly easy to make cookies.  These are a very traditional and popular biscuit in New Zealand.  You will find them in all the coffee shops.  I am going to do my very best to make them popular in my circle of friends.  Well, they call them biscuits in New Zealand, where as a cookie would be a two layer one with icing in the middle (hope I finally got that correct).

I say easy, because there are only five ingredients in the batter.  They are not your typical over sweet treat, just a mere half cup of sugar.  Butter, sugar, cocoa and flour, and then some corn flakes.  Yes, breakfast cereal.  Don't crunch it down when measuring, use the big flakes.

Top with melted chocolate chips mixed with a little vegetable shortening.  This will set up nicely.  The chocolate, cream and butter called for in the recipe will always remain a little soft.  We bought mint chocolate chips by accident and turned out to be a great discovery.  Then top with a piece of walnut.  Don't be tempted to skip the chocolate topping, this is a very important part.  Remember, the cookies themselves don't have very much sugar, you need the sweetness of the chocolate.

recipe for Edmonds Afghan Biscuits

note: 200 grams of butter is two tablespoons less than one cup

180C oven temperature is basically 350F

Edmonds Flour

"Weekend Cooking" is hosted by Beth Fish Reads.  You are invited to add your current foodie related post.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

This is the story of Briony Tallis and the effect a simple statement makes on the lives of those around her.  Set during the years surrounding World War Two, young Briony learns that being an adult is more than just sounding like one.

There are visitors to the family estate and she witnesses two events, both of which she mis-interprets.  Almost immediately Briony realizes that she has made a mistake, but waits years to make amends.

This story left me feeling flat.  It didn't seem to go anywhere.  Briony came across to me as a spoiled, rich little girl who wanted all the attention focused on her and when she didn't get her way, she stomped off.  When that didn't work, she made accusations that drew all attention to her and kept it there.

Spoiler Alert

As for making amends/atonement, all she does is write a couple of letters, have them notarized and she's free.  I was hoping for a public announcement or at least a scarlet 'L' emblazoned across her chest.  Nope, a simple "I'm sorry" and that's it.

I did listen to an abridged version, so perhaps I missed some important details, but if that's the case, then the editor did a shoddy job.  Nothing important should be removed in an abridgement.

This book was read by Josephine Bailey.  I didn't like her voice; I found it distracting, too quavery.  She was very clear, I could understand every word, but I just didn't like her voice.
Even though this book didn't work for me, I do plan to read another book by Mr. McEwan in the future.

Ian McEwan's website

Winner 2002 National Book Critics Circle Award
Winner 2002 Los Angeles Times Award for Fiction
Winner 2002 New York Times Best Books of the Year for Fiction

Phoenix Books and Audio  Abridged edition 6 hours 3 minutes, read by Josephine Bailey

Cover Photo from Download Library

This is my 22 novel for the Read, Remember, Recommend Challenge hosted by Bibliobabe.  Visit her site for a list with links to dozens of reviews of award winning books.

Needlework Tuesday - Traveller's Boxer Shorts

Those who have been following my blog know that my niece stayed with me for the last half of the year.  We were shopping for fabric one day and I asked if she'd like me to make her some boxer shorts.  My kids both have several pairs from fun fabrics.  My niece decided that it would be cool to buy fabrics that represent her trip.   I was able to get two boxers completed before she left.  This first was from the Mennonite buggy fabric.  A very common sight in this area.  The second fabric features many of the views she hopes to see as she visits in the United States.

It was really a tough choice for her to purchase this Australian fabric.  It really is perfect though, as her flight from New Zealand first went to Australia before continuing on to Los Angeles.

OK, this one has nothing to do with her trip.  She really like this fabric.  Its a pale blue and white pin-stripe with little pink flowers.  Doesn't show up too well in the photo.  click on the picture and you should be able to see a close-up.   As a surprise, I am looking for additional fabrics that will be meaningful to her. 

Pattern used for the Boxer Shorts is from Kwik Sew # 1672

Last week I mentioned that I was working on a hat for myself.  I am a bit mystified by this yarn, 'Satin' by Bernat.  Using the exact same pattern, number of stitches and needles, the plain colour hat weighs 65 grams when complete and the variegated weighs 80 grams.  How can this be.  I used every last inch of the variegated to finish this hat and had to use about 14 inches of cream from another project to cast off.  The plain ball when new weighs 100 grams and is 163 yards.  I had 35 grams left over.  The variegated ball weighs 80 grams and is 130 yards.  They are exactly the same when I do the math, yet it took so much more yarn to make the variegated hat.  All I can imagine is that the variegated yarn is actually the slightest bit thicker and I used more as I knit.  Both hats appear to be the same size when I lay them together.  In the future, if I make a variegated one, I'll use a solid colour yarn for the first six rows of ribbing.

If you want details on how I enlarged the pattern from the one on the ball band, check my post from last Tuesday.

Enough knitting, I really am sewing this year.  Not knitting, sewing.  I figure that if I say this enough times I will start believing it and it will happen.  I have 14 more pairs of boxer shorts to finish and then some shirts for my son, and then probably a few pillow cases.  I made a pillow case for one of the young ladies at fencing and in exchange she is making me a pair of earrings.  I am curious what she will come up with.  I'll share with you when she has them ready.

Better go now.  Today is the day that I am starting my running program.  eeks.  It's wet and cold and icky outside so I have decided that I will run around and around my block. 

Recipe Thursday - Baked Beans

I have made baked beans in years and thought it would be a good dish for my vegetarian son.  On Saturday night after the water softener had run, I set my beans to soak.  Left them overnight, and boiled them the next morning.  After and hour in the pot they were still hard, but I knew they would be in the oven for about four hours, so let it go.  Well, after all that additional time in the oven, they were still like little marbles.  eeks.  The flavour was good, but the crunchiness was just plain wrong.

This has happened to me before and the beans were just as inedible.

Shopping time.  I bought bottled water and a new bag of beans and began again.  After soaking overnight, the beans even looked better. Bigger.  Then I boiled them for an hour and the beans were tender this time.  The final beans were terrific.  I managed to grab this last dish of them for a photo.  In fact, it was really hard to get a picture of them.  Too many reflective surfaces and the camera has a hard time deciding which point to focus on. 

Why were my beans hard?  I did some research and it has to do with the hardness of the water, the calcium goes into the skin of the bean and hardens it.  This stops the water from reaching the inside of the bean and allowing it to soften.  The solution is to use bottled water.  You can instead add an 1/8 of a teaspoon of baking soda to the soaking and cooking water, but I didn't like that option.  Supposedly that diminishes the nutrients of the dish.

Baked Beans

2 cups dried navy beans

1 fist sized onion, chopped
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tbsp dark honey

Put the beans in a large dish, cover with lots of water and let them soak overnight.
In the morning, strain off the old water and pour the beans into a large pot.  Fill with fresh water.  Bring to a boil and simmer for one hour.  The beans should be fairly soft.  If they are hard like marbles, don't proceed, start with fresh beans and bottled water.

Into the bean pot put: onions, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, honey and spice.  Stir and then add the drained, cooked beans.  Add enough fresh water to bring the liquid level to the top of the beans.

Bake covered in a 300 F. over for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or until tender.  Add more water as required.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads.  Visit to find a list of links to food related posts.  You are invited to add your current post to the list.

Last Orders by Graham Swift

Jack Dodds passed away shortly after closing his family butcher shop.  Today is the day appointed for dispersing his ashes, and his son and friends have gathered.  If they had awaken this morning thinking that it would be an easy task, just open the jar and pour, then they were mistaken.

While his son Vince, and his friends Ray, Lenny and Vic are on their way to the seaside, his wife Amy is visiting their daughter June to break the news to her.

This day, meant to honour Jack, turns out to be one of deep reflection and soul searching for each of the people involved.  Over the years their lives had become so entwined that a simple good-bye wasn't enough.  it had to be more, much more.

At first I was a bit confused of who all these people were, but as I continued listening it became clear.  They were clearly grieving, not only for Jack's death, but also for events past and for events that could have been.

I particularly liked Ray's story.  During the course of the War, he and Jack has saved each others lives and become like brothers.  That bond had never been broken even if they didn't wear it on their sleeves every day.

This audio book features a full cast of characters/voices.  I found that this really enhanced the story telling. 

HighBridge Audio
read by: Simon Prebble, Gigi Marceau Clark, Jenny Sterlin, Ian Stewart, Gerard Doyle, Simon Jones, and Domonick Hawksley

Winner of the 1996 Man Booker Prize for Fiction
Winner of the 1996 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction


Thanks to Random House Canada for the cover photo.

This is my 21 book for the Read, Remember, Recommend challenge hosted by Bibliobabe.  Visit her site for a list of books and their reviews by all participants.

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

Fictional author Carolyn McClelland has travelled to Scotland to continue her research for her newest novel.  While there, she feels oddly compelled to  remain in Cruden Bay, the site of the now ruined Slains Castle.  As she continues to research her characters and location, so finds herself being pulled into the real lives of her characters, people that she thought she was making up.  Turns out they are all real.

By the time I was turning the first page of this book, ready to start page two, I was totally drawn into the story.  They wasn't a chance that I would be able to set it aside for long.  The story is set in a rural area of Scotland and the our main character is already admitting that something, or someone is guiding her almost from the moment she arrived.  There was no doubt that I would have to keep reading.

As fictional author Carolyn sat to write, it seemed to her that the story kept telling itself to her.  That it knew what needed to be written and that she had no say.   I had no trouble believing that.  I have sat down to write and my characters have told me what I had to do with them.  Why would it be any different with this author. 

Author Susanna Kearsley made both worlds real to me.  The current day in Scotland and the long ago 1700's were both so vivid that at times I forgot I was reading fiction and I could feel myself living with Carolyn, Jimmy, Grahme, and with the older Sophie, and other visitors to Slains Castle.

Yes, this book has romance, but it has a lot more.  It is full of historical characters who are a lot more than faded images in history books.  Ms. Kearsley has brought them to life once again.  If only I had been lucky enough to have had a history teacher in school who could have brought historical figures to life such as this.

I especially enjoyed the character of modern time Dr. Weir and his research into genetic memories.   I have come across similar discussions previously and found it an excellent rational for what was happening with Carolyn.

The Darien Expedition/Scheme discussed in the book is a real event.  Click here for further information.

I am definitely looking forward to reading further books by author Susanne Kearsley



Susanna Kearsley's website.

Photo Credit aerial view of Slains Castle- Pierre Lesage 

Further information about Slains Castle can be found at Undiscovered Scotland.

Thanks to SourceBooks for my review copy.

Needlework Tuesday - Tag Team Knitting

Back in September of 2009 I told you about the pattern I had purchased to make a scarf for my son.  It's called the Groovy Scarf and it's by Iwona, a designer in Toronto, Ontario.  My niece wanted to knit a scarf when she arrived here in June and I pulled that pattern out for her.  She loved it.  When we were planning a scarf for her mother, the same pattern came to mind, only this time we worked together to knit it.  I knit the purple mesh and both of us knit the green strips.  Even though our tensions are way different, it didn't really matter.  We even switched part way through the green strips and would work each other's piece.  You can't tell in the end once they are woven into the mesh.  My son's is the red, white and black scarf, Michelle's is the black and blues scarf, and her mother's will be the purple and greens scarf.  Same pattern yet they give such a different impression.

What good is a scarf without a hat.

In January of 2010 I showed you the little green hat I knit.  It's from a free pattern by Bernat.  Bernat Satin Cable Hat.  I have to admit that I found the hat just too small.  I had even knit it on 5.5mm needles instead of the required 5mm.  I adjusted the pattern this time in the following manner.  Cast on 86 stitches,  on the sixth row increase to 98 stitches.  Repeat the cable pattern 4 1/2 times instead of 3 1/2 times.  Then follow the decrease rows as written, you will need to add a knit 2 together at the end of the rows where that doesn't naturally occur.  The orange hat and the purple hat in the following picture were knit with the increased number of stitches.  No worries about running out of yarn.  The ball weights 100grams and the finished hat is about 60 grams.  That means you can also knit the hat using the variegated Satin, that ball is only 80 grams.  Visit next week and you'll see my variegated hat. 

Michelle is modelling the hat and scarf for her mother.  My daughter is modelling the orange hat for Michelle's friend Laura, and the scarf I made for daughter some time ago out of a really funky yarn.  Wish that one hadn't been dis-continued.

I really do keep my house warmer than would be suggested by this picture.  They are all bundled up for their view of the new season of Jersey Shores.

I have been doing some sewing, but the finished items went right into my niece's luggage without me taking a photo.  I am working on more of the same for her, and will be sure to take a pic before those ones go in the box with the hat and scarf for mailing.

Glazed Murder: A Donut Shop Mystery by Jessica Beck

After her divorce from Max, Suzanne Hart buys a donut shop and renames it Donut Heart.  All is going well and she is developing a loyal core of customers, when early one morning she watches as a body is dumped in front of her shop.  It's one of those loyal customers and she is left wondering if she will be the next victim.

Suzanne is determined to find out who killed her friend, before the killer finds her.

This was a fun holiday read.  One thing I have never made is a donut.  I admit to being kind of afraid of huge pots of almost boiling oil.  It was interesting to learn a bit about the process involved first in making donuts and then to running the shop.  There are eleven yummy sounding recipes included in the book, most of them for donuts.  I am looking forward to trying the recipe for the baked donuts.

There were two things that bugged me about the story.  Suzanne claims that the victim Patrick Blaine is her friend, but we don't learn anything other than he was a customer of hers.  The other is that she jumps right into investigating his death almost without any pushing or threat to her.  I wish we had learned more about their friendship, such as they played cards together, or that they discussed books whenever  Patrick was in the shop.  A few menacing phone or text messages or even the passing of a bit of time before she started investigating would have made more sense to me, but Suzanne didn't wait at all.  She just finished her shift and started asking questions.

From that point, the story got better.  We were introduced to her friends and to the busy body in the shop next door.  I like the owner of Re-Newed, she would be fun to have tea with.  

Author Jessica Beck has introduced us to an interesting set of characters.  I do look forward to reading more about them in her upcoming books: Fatally Frosted and Sinister Sprinkles.

Thanks to Meagan of Snippets & Yarns from Turtle Bottom for sending me this fun book.

Also reviewed at:

This and That. Here and There. Now, Sometimes, Then.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads.  You are invited to add a link to your food related post.

Foodie's Reading Challenge is hosted by Margot of Joyfully Retired.  You are invited to join the challenge by reading food related materials in the form of: cookbooks, novels, memoirs/biographies, and non-fiction.  Visit the site for full details.  Challenge starts January 2011 and continues throughout the year.

Visit my New Blog

Along with my sister, I have started a new blog. Send a Postcard a Week.  Don't worry, I will continue to do this one as well. 

The premise to for both of us to send out at least one postcard each week.  I could be to a family member, friend, or even a stranger.   Regardless of who we send to, it is bound to brighten their day. 

You are invited to join us in our adventure and send out your own postcards and let us know.  You can join our blog, or you can leave details in the comments.

Hope that you will visit us a Send a Postcard a Week.  Leave a comment and tell us who you would send a postcard to.

Remembering Babylon by David Malouf

 Gemmy Fairley had been working as a ship hand when he became ill and feverish.  His shipmates put him adrift on a raft rather than risk the health of the whole crew.  Fortunately for Gemmy, the raft washed ashore on a desolate area of Australia.  He was found by aborigines who he lived with for the next sixteen years. 

One day while wondering with them, he spied some white men, whom he later sought out.  A family in the new community took him in and tried to help him re-integrate into English style daily life.  He had lost much of his earlier language skills and found it difficult to communicate.

What was happening with Gemmy was similar to what was happening with the English colonists.  Both were out of their element and trying to fit their old lives into their current location.  Gemmy had never had a 'good' nor 'safe' life and he didn't have the skills of how to live in a proper family.  The colonists were trying to recreate an English pastoral life in a totally foreign environment that was often hostile to their attempts.

I most enjoyed reading of Gemmy's life and his attempts to fit in anywhere.  He didn't find a safe place in England, not on the ship and even with the aborigines he was always an outsider.  He wasn't either a white fellow or a black fellow, he was something else.  I think perhaps that he was a lot of what was needed to for the transplanted English to survive in Australia, but that the whites refused to even consider the possibility.

Winner the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 1996

Winner the Los Angeles Times Award for Fiction 1994

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 1993

This is my 19th novel for the Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Challenge hosted by Bibliobabe.