Monthly Book Club Meeting
For the time being, all book discussions are via Zoom.
Those who will be joining the discussion should send an e-mail to Katherine by Tuesday morning. Please also cc jillcoogan@hotmail.com. At 7:30 pm that evening, right when the discussion is scheduled to begin, you will receive an e-mail from Katherine with a link to the meeting.
Remember that even if you don't have access to Zoom, you can phone in to the discussion -- RSVP by Tuesday morning to Katherine for phone link info.
Black Cake, by Charmaine Wilkerson. Led by Claire Cronmiller.
We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?
In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.
Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?
Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.