Love and Saffron--Kim Fay

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I was so delighted when I learned that my friend Kim Fay had a new book coming out, as I was a huge fan of her Edgar nominated novel, THE MAP OF LOST MEMORIES. 

Well, LOVE AND SAFFRON not only did not disappoint, I can already say that it will be one of my favorite books of the year. More than that, it's a book that I will read and reread, and give to people I hold dear. It's a book above all about friendship, but there's food and cooking and romance, too--all the best of things, whether in life or in books.

Here is Kim to tell us how it came about!

LOVE & COMFORT

by Kim Fay

As any true reader knows, sinking into a novel always provides an element of comfort. Some fiction (Happy All the Time, The House at Pooh Corner) is made for keeping the soul warm. Some, like mysteries, hearten by ensuring justice is served. Even difficult books soothe when they teach us something new and make the world a smaller place.

Writing, on the other hand. When was the last time you heard a writer say, “Oh, I write to comfort myself.” Um, never! “Ugh,” we moan, “I had to force myself to write today.” We meet up with our writing friends online to do The Pomodoro Technique—a method of jump-starting ourselves into bursts of writing. We have an official name for our struggle: writer’s block.

At worst, it’s hard and frustrating. At best, it’s satisfying and exhilarating. But comforting?

Personally, I journaled for comfort (not to mention self-indulgence) and wrote fiction to accomplish. That is, until March 2020. A month that will live in infamy—I do not say this lightly.

On March 16, the mayor of Los Angeles announced the following:

                         SAFER AT HOME ORDER FOR CONTROL OF COVID-19

Temporary Prohibition of Events and Gatherings of 10 Persons or More

Closure of Non-Essential Businesses and Areas

The order would go into effect at 11:59 pm on March 19. Thus began that early era of washing our groceries, airing out our mail, hour-long lines at Trader Joes, hoarding pasta, making homemade masks out of bandannas and hair ties, and for me, a headlong tumble into a place I had not visited since childhood. A place where my writing was not a destination but a journey.

Baby Kim on Camano Island with the inspirations for the characters Imogen (her great-aunt Irene) and Francis (her great-uncle Frank).

While the world frantically hunted for toilet paper and Clorox wipes, I woke up each morning in a kind of trance, writing fictional letters back and forth between two women in the early 1960s. Every sentence I crafted was infused with a piece of my life that I loved and gave me joy: favorite dishes, childhood weekends at Camano Island, my decades-long correspondence with the essayist Janet Brown, my friendship with the pioneering food writer Barbara Hansen.

                    Pioneering L.A. food writer Barbara Hansen was the inspiration for the character Joan.

The pandemic worsened, politics shred the country, and the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd stirred civil uprisings. I paid attention. I took action. But I also sheltered in my writing in certainties I knew I could count on: family, friendship, love. Even though the book was set in another era, as I wrote about events like the Kennedy assassination, I thought about the only thing I believed could save us in times of strife: human connection.

My only goal as I wrote was to create a gift for Janet and Barbara. A small book that could be read in a single afternoon, providing escape and entertainment and, yes, comfort. Three months later, Love & Saffron was done. I sent it to Barbara and Janet. They loved it, and that was that. Mission accomplished.

But a mention of the book to another friend led me to send it to my agent. Her response: Where in the heck had this come from? She’d been patiently working with me on two different books for the past few years. She knew I was a writer who took a very looooooooooooong time to write (and revise, and revise) a book. Yet here was Love & Saffron, seemingly out of the blue. I say seemingly, because I know now that some stories can simmer inside us unnoticed for years until they are ready for the world.

 In December of 2020, my agent sold Love & Saffron to Putnam, and now, just under two years since I started writing it, it is out in the world. Love & Saffron saved me during those first months of the pandemic. It also changed me. I never want to write to accomplish again. I only want to write to bring comfort and pleasure to myself and to readers who know that while we must be present in this world, at the same time we need to find moments to retreat and nourish our souls.

 Love & Saffron is a story of shared meals, enriching correspondence, and two women whose friendship bridges generations and geography. Featured on Katie Couric Media, it is a witty and tender story, following budding food writer Joan Bergstrom and established magazine columnist Imogen Fortier in 1960s America as they discover that food really does connect us all, and that friendship and laughter are the best medicine.

 Independent booksellers around the country chose Love & Saffron as their #1 Indie Next Pick for February, and bestselling authors are raving about it. Tembi Locke (From Scratch) calls it “a memorable and lovely story of friendship,” and Heather Webber (Midnight at the Blackbird Café) describes it as “delightful recipe of food, friendship, love, and acceptance.” Love & Saffron “reveals how a love of food can open doors into culture, history, homes, and love,” shares Ann Hood (The Knitting Circle), and Louise Miller (The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living) says, “You’ll want to share it with everyone you call friend.”

Kim Fay’s first novel, The Map of Lost Memories, was an Edgar Award Finalist for Best First Novel, and her food memoir, Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam, was a World Gourmand Cookbook Award winner. www.kimfaybooks.com

DEBS:  Isn't the buzz for this book fabulous?? And I couldn't agree more! I'm wondering if #84 Charing Cross Road might have served as inspiration... Kim will be stopping in to visit, so add your questions too!