Cake business in Kigali or a lovely time in another world

Since we love books so passionately we decided to write a bit more about books we liked reading. The first book I (little D.) want to write about is

Gaile Parkin's Baking Cakes in Kigali.

This is Gaile Parkin's first novel (let's hope for more). She was born and raised in Zambia and has lived and worked in many African countries. She also worked in Rwanda, counselling women and girls who had survived the genocide.

In the book Angel Tungaraza, a professional cake-baker, has recently moved from Tanzania to Rwanda with her husband and her five orphaned grand-children. While taking orders for her colourful, tasty, artful cakes she listens to stories and confessions and problems of her customers and friends. She often helps them to solve their problems and eventually finds the answer to her own personal struggle. The book is written in a light and vivid tongue. The underlying theme is a basically positive view on the development in a country after the genocide. But the author does not shy away from the very serious aspects of life in Rwanda. One character in the book, a friend of Angel and a restaurant owner, tells about the sad despair of having survived by chance only after she saw her family being killed. Aids is an underlying theme in the book. And even female genital mutilation is raised (which is not a Rwandan tradition).

But it is a funny book as well. One guy in the story sent his maid to ask a neighbour for condoms in the middle of the afternoon. This raised some embarrassment and suspicion about the guy's sex life. In the end it turns out that the maid's English wasn't that good and that she was sent to ask for cardamom instead. Really a laugh.

Another quite lovely story in the book is the story about a baby-girl named Good-Enough. The baby's uncle orders a cake for the Christening and when Angel asks about the odd name he explains it. The baby's mother wanted a boy and got a girl instead. Good-Enough. After some soft persuasion Angel is able to put a new name of the baby on top the cake: Perfect.

'Baking cakes in Kigali' is a moving book. Again, it made me think of our own luck and wealth. And it shows at least a little bit of life in another country. I dearly hope for a sequel novel.

And to make it clear: This is not a book like the Mma Ramotswe ones (The No.1 ladies' detective agency-series by Alexander McCall Smith). I love the Mma Ramotswe books as well, since it made me curious about Botswana, a country which wasn't on my radar before. Now I dearly want to visit Botswana. Better sooner than later! But McCall Smith shows only the bright side of life and avoids all serious matters. Which is not a critisism at all. I just don't like the reviews of Gaile Parkin's book that say 'Mma Ramotswe fans will love this book'. They might, they might not.