Cooking for Picasso: A Novel

Cooking for Picasso: A Novel

For readers of Paula McLain, Nancy Horan, and Melanie Benjamin, this captivating novel is inspired by a little-known interlude in the artistâ‚¬s life.

The French Riviera, spring 1936: Itâ‚¬s off-season in the lovely seaside village of Juan-les-Pins, where seventeen-year-old Ondine cooks with her mother in the kitchen of their family-owned CafÂ© Paradis. A mysterious new patron whoâ‚¬s slipped out of Paris and is traveling under a different name has made an unusual requestâ‚¬"to have his lunch served to him at the nearby villa heâ‚¬s secretly rented, where he wishes to remain incognito.

Pablo Picasso is at a momentous crossroads in his personal and professional lifeâ‚¬"and for him, art and women are always entwined. The spirited Ondine, chafing under her familyâ‚¬s authority and nursing a broken heart, is just beginning to discover her own talents and appetites. Her encounter with Picasso will continue to affect her life for many decades onward, as the great artist and the talented young chef each pursue their own passions and destiny.

New York, present day: CÂ©line, a Hollywood makeup artist whoâ‚¬s come home for the holidays, learns from her mother, Julie, that Grandmother Ondine once cooked for Picasso. Prompted by her motherâ‚¬s enigmatic stories and the hint of more family secrets yet to be uncovered, CÂ©line carries out Julieâ‚¬s wishes and embarks on a voyage to the very town where Ondine and Picasso first met. In the lush, heady atmosphere of the CÂ´te dâ‚¬Azur, and with the help of several eccentric fellow guests attending a rigorous cooking class at her hotel, CÂ©line discovers truths about art, culture, cuisine, and love that enable her to embrace her own future.

Featuring an array of both fictional characters and the French Rivieraâ‚¬s most famous historical residents, set against the breathtaking scenery of the South of France, Cooking for Picasso is a touching, delectable, and wise story, illuminating the powers of trust, money, art, and creativity in the choices that men and women make as they seek a path toward love, success, and joie de vivre.

Praise for Cooking for Picasso

â‚¬Å“Intrigue, art, food, and deception are woven together in a tale of love and betrayal around the life and legacy of Picasso. Touching and true, this well-written narrative made me long for my motherâ‚¬s coq au vin and for the sun of Juan-les-Pins.â‚¬Ââ‚¬"Jacques PÂ©pin, chef, TV personality, author

â‚¬Å“Intriguing and insightful, the sensory details alone will have you thinking youâ‚¬re reading the pages seated at a seaside cafÂ© in the South of France.â‚¬Ââ‚¬"Susan Meissner, author ofÂ Secrets of a Charmed Life

â‚¬Å“[A] delicious, atmospheric novel . . . Youâ‚¬ll be glad youâ‚¬re along for the ride.â‚¬Ââ‚¬"People (Pick for â‚¬Å“The Best New Booksâ‚¬Â)

â‚¬Å“[A] colorful family saga . . .Â Cooking for PicassoÂ is . . . about how people take what seems to be worthless and make it into something priceless. . . . The characters in Camille Aubrayâ‚¬s debut novel illustrate . . . that value lies not in what you own, but in who you are.â‚¬Ââ‚¬"The Washington Post

â‚¬Å“This richly crafted tale of love, trust, art and food is wonderfully evocative of the sun-kissed CÂ´te dâ‚¬Azur, while weaving in a modern-day mystery. . . . Ideal for whiling away some timeÂ en vacancesÂ on the Riviera.â‚¬Ââ‚¬"France Today

â‚¬Å“[A] sweet summer escape.â‚¬Ââ‚¬"Cosmopolitan
Country USA
Brand Ballantine Books
Manufacturer Ballantine Books
Binding Hardcover
ReleaseDate 2016-08-09
Format Deckle Edge
EANs 9780399177651

Country	USA
Brand	Ballantine Books
Manufacturer	Ballantine Books
Binding	Hardcover
ReleaseDate	2016-08-09
Format	Deckle Edge
EANs	9780399177651

Cooking for Picasso: A Novel

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