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Ann Packer’s novel, Some Bright Nowhere, examines a long marriage and how a startling request can change a couple’s understanding of who they are, together and apart.
From Ann Packer.“The first menu option is an all-dessert feast collecting the different desserts that Eliot and his dinner club friends enjoy at their two meetings, along with a third dessert Eliot prepares for Claire. This would mean serving two different butterscotch puddings: one from Karen DeMasco’s wonderful book The Craft of Baking, and the other from Gjelina restaurant in Venice, California, widely available online as Salted Butterscotch Pots de Creme —or Butterscotch Pots de Creme with Salted Caramel. Next, an homage to Piotr’s three-component chocolate cake, which I would encourage book club bakers to make their own with any combination of chocolate layer cake, chocolate buttercream, and chocolate glaze, though it might be best to avoid Russian buttercream. Finally, Eliot’s peach poundcake, which is actually Lisa Donovan’s Lemon Peach Poundcake, the recipe for which I found in the Washington Post. The second menu would be a recreation of a snack Eliot makes for Claire late in the book: fruit, cheese, and cornichons, which could be enhanced with some of the charcuterie, olives, and focaccia Eliot scarfs down in Stuart’s kitchen. Or you could skip the menu notion entirely, order some quick-frozen wild blueberries from Maine, and make scones. With or without eggs."
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