Delicious! by Ruth Reichl FIC Rei

  
We own both the book and the audiobook.  (I listened).  Billie Breslin comes to New York from California to interview at Delicious which is a well-established food magazine.  When she is told that she must cook at the interview Billie is thrown into a panic.  However, she passes it with flying colors with her special gingerbread cake. There is a rather strange group working there and Billie doubts that she will ever fit in but of course she does.  When Delicious suddenly closed down Billie continues to work in the old mansion because she needs the money.  Her job is to answer complaints about published recipes.

There are several subplots going on at once.  There are hints as to why Billie is avoiding going home to visit her widowed father and her aunt.  She writes letters to her sister but there seems to be a problem between the two of them.  Then there is the story about the future of the building.  But my favorite part of the story involves a hidden room which leads to a cache of letters.  They were written during WWII by a young girl to James Beard.  Billie becomes enthralled in the life of the young author, Lulu.  This was a very entertaining book and I couldn't wait to get to the end - and then I was sad that it was over.