An Author and her Books, Erica Bauermeister

How a famous author, time, and getting her ego out of the way allowed Erica Bauermeister to hear her characters reveal themselves in the stories she writes

Dec 12, 2023

Hi readers,

In January, I needed to choose a “fiction foodie” book for a postal book club (here’s info about PBC’s) I had recently joined. I googled “foodie” books and found lists with many books to choose from. One book appeared over and over again on multiple lists, and after reading the description and a few reviews, I decided to read it for the PBC. That book is The School of Essential Ingredients, and by year-end, I’ve read four of Erica Bauermeister’s six fiction and memoir books, and I have the other two on the top of my TBR so I can check the “completist” box with her books. She has also co-authored two reader guides written in the 1990s that I’m having difficulty getting my hands on, but I’ll keep looking.

Erica, Port Townsend house from House Lessons

Erica Bauermeister always wanted to be a writer and loved reading as a kid. She went to college, got her master’s and PhD in literature, taught classes, and wrote guidebooks and memoirs, which she says she’s glad were never published. Early in her writing career, publishers told her that her writing needed more perspective and that they didn’t feel personal enough. When she started writing fiction, the main reaction she received was “how personal the novels felt; I guess I told the truth better when I was making things up.” Bauermeister says, “I write about the things we don’t pay attention to—our sense of smell, the food we cook, the houses we live in, the way our filters affect our perceptions of the world. I write about those quiet spaces between words and all that goes on in them. But most of all, I write about compassion—because that is what teaches us to see everything else.”

It was living in Italy for a few years where she says, “What I learned about food and family changed my life. I honestly don’t know if I would have written fiction without that experience – both because it gave me that important experience of trying to see through another culture/person’s eyes and also because of the loving and instinctual relationship the Italians have with ingredients and mealtimes and family.” I’m happy she lived in Italy also because I can’t imagine my reading life having not read her books and getting to know her characters and their lives.

The School of Essential Ingredients - A story about a cooking class and so much more. Lillian offers an eight-week cooking class on Monday night at her restaurant, and over those eight weeks, each participant is transformed by the recipes, aromas, and flavors of the food they cook. Throughout this book, the reader learns about each of the eight participants as each one (including Lillian) is there for a reason; each has a story to tell and a problem to solve. I was drawn to this book because of the food, but the more I read, the more the characters and their stories drew me in and left me wanting to hug them all when I read the words on the last page. This is book one of the series.
Joy for Beginners - Six close friends rally around Kate while she goes through cancer treatment, and after surviving, they gather to celebrate. At the celebration, one of the friends challenges Kate to start her new life by doing something she’s afraid to do. She says she’ll do it under one condition—that each of the women also has to do something they are afraid to do, and it’s up to Kate to name the challenge for each of her friends. Kate knows them well, and each friend discovers themselves through their challenge and heals in the process. This is a story not of challenges as much as it is a story of friendship and the changes each woman goes through during their challenge. I found myself rooting for each one and celebrating as they all made it to the other side, much wiser than when they began. Hugs again to all the characters; I felt they were my friends, too.
The Lost Art of Mixing - While it’s not necessary for storyline purposes to read book one of the series first, some characters from the first book do appear in this book, including Lillian and her restaurant. Another cooking school session brings more quirky people and their problems that the reader learns about in the same manner as book one. The character relationships are more prominent, and the food takes more of a back seat, but the overall feel is still a group of people you’d like to know. Lillian features more prominently in her storyline in ways the reader doesn’t expect, and the ending again is hugs all around.
The Scent Keeper - This book is one of the two books I haven’t read yet, but based on the reviews, I can’t imagine not enjoying it. From the publisher, “… is a moving and evocative coming-of-age novel about childhood stories, families lost and found, and how a fragrance conjures memories capable of shaping the course of our lives.” Readers say it’s a book about “senses, scents and how they can transport us places” and “how scents can remind us of memories, and be our strongest sense of time and place.” Kirkus said in their review, "… a lyrical, haunting prose, the story provides fascinating information about the ways in which different fragrances can impact human behavior and the struggles of finding one's own identity. An artfully crafted coming-of-age story that will take the reader on an exquisite olfactory adventure.” It’s up next on my TBR.
House Lessons - This book is the memoir of Erica and her husband, who find a wreck of a house owned by a hoarder with the junk still in it and decide that it is the house they want to buy and renovate. Just those two facts, wreck and hoarding, would have stopped most people in their tracks, but not these people. The purchase and renovation take place over a decade and “explores how the house project helped renovate a marriage, a family and a life.” I loved reading the renovation story—the time it took, all of the problems encountered, the toll it was taking on the personal lives of the family, and a decade later, finally getting to the end to have a house that each member of the family could look at and say, “I helped build that.” Renovating a house like this isn’t for me, but that didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the story and the lessons learned.
No Two Persons - This book was the kickoff to the Reader’s Weekend in the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club, and while I haven’t read it yet, I did attend the author Zoom event, and it was so much fun. Erica is warm, funny, and personable, and she talked about her reading life, graduate school, and writing this book. It was a spoiler-free event, and I hadn’t planned on reading the book, but after listening to her talk, I knew I would have read it. From the publisher, “One book. Nine readers. Ten changed lives. This book is a gloriously original celebration of fiction and the ways it deepens our lives.” No two persons read the same book in the same way, and this story about a debut novel tells how it changes the lives of those who read it. Anne Bogel of Modern Mrs. Darcy says, “A testament to the invisible threads that tie us together, and the power of books and reading.” I can’t imagine now why I didn’t think I’d read this book, but after reading all her other books, I will read this one, too.

Here are several links to interviews, podcasts, and videos.

📝 This Bellingham Alive article discusses House Lessons and her experience of writing it while doing the renovation.
🎧 Scroll down to Episode 37 on NPR’s Off the Page podcast to hear Erica talk about No Two Persons.
💻 In this short Author Magazine video, Bauermeister discusses how she had to learn to write characters NOT based on people she knew to become a successful writer.
📝 An interesting article where Bauermeister talks about finding her father through her characters.
💻 This short King5 Evening News interview talks about the Port Townsend house renovation in House Lessons and shows many pictures of the before and after. It makes reading the book even more special after seeing all the photos.
📝 A short Q&A about the research process and characters in No Two Persons

You can find out more about Erica on her website, and if you have a book club and would like a visit from Erica, you can find out how here. She is very active on Facebook and Instagram, sharing about her books, and other books and articles she’s read that her readers might be interested in.

Each of her books embodies her statement above about compassion. Without compassion, the reader is unable to see the characters and everything our senses tell us about those characters. Character-driven stories don’t seem to move much or go anywhere, but if the reader can let loose of the need to move forward, they will learn so much about themselves as they learn about the characters.

If you live in the Northwest or want to travel there, Erica will attend an event in April 2024 called Get Lit at the Beach. This yearly event began in 2012 and took a three-year break during Covid, but started up again last year. There aren’t many details on the website yet, but you can sign up to get on the list for more information so you don’t miss them when released. I hadn’t planned on traveling to that area until summer, but depending on the cost, I may have to rearrange my plans so I can go. It sounds like it will be a lot of fun.

Until next time, happy reading!

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