Desperate times call for desperate measures, says the ages-old adage. This is exactly the case for Jenny Newberg in Billie Starr’s Book of Sorries, the latest from author Deborah E. Kennedy. Jenny is just plain down on her luck, struggling as a single mom to support her kid, Billie Starr, while keeping her daughter’s deadbeat dad from causing further problems. One very questionable decision to do with a local politician coupled with a few unsavory characters plus a touch of magic and coincidence add up to quite the situation for Jenny. This delightful and surprising novel is as sweet as it is savory, delivering suspense in one moment, satire in the next, with a touch of insight into the fragility of the bonds that exist between humans — especially those who show up filled with grit and goodness in equal parts.
Billie Starr's Book of Sorries
by Deborah E Kennedy
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| La Patience Carignan Rouge | Prophecy Pinot Grigio |
| This gorgeous Carignan from La Patience winery was surprisingly bold and complex, and though young, it also was very practiced in its delivery. Does it call to mind Jenny with this certain sophistication? Not quite. What it does call to mind, though, is the reminder that some things take a while to play out, and that sometimes all you need is a little patience. | This Pinot Grigio from Prophecy — a nod to a certain fortune teller in Billie Starr’s Book of Sorries — is just delicate enough, with a fair amount of fruit and citrus. Drink it extra chilly. We’re predicting you’ll love it. |
Citrus Salmon with Black Olive Breadcrumbs
From I Dream of Dinner by Ali Slagle
There’s a certain significant citrus fruit that shows up again and again in Billie Starr’s Book of Sorries. Inspired by said fruit, we dipped into one of our favorite cookbooks of recent years, Ali Slagle’s I Dream of Dinner. All the recipes in the cookbook are perfectly thought through and easy to execute. This one is particularly sparkly.
INGREDIENTS
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STEPS 1. Heat the oven to 300°F. Line a sheet pan or baking dish with parchment paper. Place a 1 ½- to 2-pound salmon fillet, skin side down if there’s skin, in the pan and season with salt and pepper. In a medium bowl, zest 2 oranges and 1 lemon. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, season with S&P, and stir to combine. Spoon over the flesh of the salmon (reserve the bowl). Roast until cooked through, 15 to 25 minutes. (You’ll know the salmon is done when the fish flakes easily or when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reaches 120°F.) 2. While the salmon roasts, cut the tops and bottoms off the oranges. Place an orange on one of the cut sides and follow the curve of the fruit to cut away the peel and white pith. Halve the fruit from top to bottom, then cut into ¼-inch-thick half-moons. If your pieces are especially large, halve them again. Repeat with the other orange, then transfer to the reserved bowl along with any juices on the cutting board. Add 3 tbsp olive oil and the juice from the lemon (about 3 tbsp) and season with S&P. Cut 1 large or 2 medium fennel bulbs (about 2 pounds) through the core. Discard any tough outer layers, then thinly slice the bulb and stalks crosswise. If you have fronds, rip a handful into smaller pieces. Add the fennel (including the fronds) to the bowl and stir to combine. Adjust to taste with S&P and lemon. 3. Pit and coarsely chop 1/4 cup oil-cured black olives. In a medium skillet, heat 3 tbsp olive oil and the olives over medium. Add 1 cup panko breadcrumbs and cook, stirring often, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a little bowl and season to taste with S&P and red pepper flakes. 4. Eat the salmon and salad with a spoonful of full-fat Greek or regular yogurt and a sprinkle of the breadcrumbs. |
| Reprinted from I Dream of Dinner. Copyright © 2022 by Alexandra Slagle. Photographs copyright © 2022 by Mark Weinberg. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House. |
I Dream of Dinner (So You Don't Have To)
by Ali Slagle
Billie Starr’s Book of Sorries will likely bring up quite a number of conflicting thoughts and opinions, both in your own mind and in conversation with others. For a little help parsing all that’s going on, dip into these questions for discussion. It will help keep discussions that are likely going to be quite energetic both on point and satisfying.
There are books out there that paint an ideal portrait of motherhood—and then there are those books that don’t, instead calling to light the grittier, more challenging moments of being a mom. Billie Starr’s Book of Sorries falls definitively in the latter group, as Jenny takes big risks to support her kid, sharing her big feels about her circumstances in a way that is raw (albeit too loud, as Billie Starr overhears these very thoughts). Want to dig in a little deeper to the not-so-shiny side of parenting? Check out a few of these fiction and nonfiction books.