“I Capture the Castle” Book Discussion and Cherry Hot Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith This story is unlike any other coming of age tale. Subtly humorous, set in a castle inhabited by a very poor family in the 1930s, I Capture the Castle is reminiscent of other Gothic novels in that there are two sisters living in an ancient castle in the…

“The Distant Hours” Book Discussion and Mini Pear Pound Cakes

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton From the first pages of The Distant Hours, imaginations are captured, like Edie’s, by the dark tale of the Mud Man, a haunting fictional book within this one: “Can you hear him? The trees can. They are the first to hear him coming…It is moonless when the Mud Man comes.”…

“The Swan Thieves” Book Discussion and Strawberry Pie Bites Recipe

“The Swan Thieves” by Elizabeth Kostova Robert Oliver, a divorced, middle aged painter who tries to stab a painting of “Leda and the Swan” at the National Gallery of Art. Andrew Marlow, his new psychiatrist, who can learn nothing of Robert’s past from the silent man himself, leaving the doctor to question Robert’s ex-wife Kate,…