In this funny and poignant novel, a handsome French baker looks like being the secret ingredient to refresh Esme's stale life. But is the recipe for happiness closer to home? 'Esme's bread begged to be eaten. It pleaded. It beseeched. You simply could not be in the same room as her sourdough without licking your lips and instantly realising it was exactly what you felt like eating. No, more than that. It was exactly what you had been missing.' But all is not well in the House in the Clouds. Pog's gorgeous, garrulous, glutinous wife, Esme, is not her usual self. Her attempts at avoiding what's really troubling her are affecting everyone in the family, including her irascible father-in-law Henry and the mad assortment of animals they keep acquiring. What can a desperate, devoted husband do, except wait for the mayhem to abate?

Author Biography

Sarah-Kate Lynch is a novelist and editor, and has also worked as a journalist, radio presenter and columnist. She has published many hugely popular novels, plus memoir and a non-fiction book. She reviews, has hosted magazine book clubs, and writes two columns for New Zealand Woman's Day. Critic Margie Thomson has attributed the international success of Sarah-Kate's fiction to her 'distinctive voice at the quality end of the popular-fiction genre'. She lives with her husband and her dog, but she's often not sure where - and she likes it that way. See more at www.sarah-katelynch.com. She is also on Twitter and Facebook. Sarah's novels include: The Wedding Bees, Dolci di Love, On Top of Everything, The House of Peine, Eating with the Angels, By Bread Alone, Blessed Are the Cheesemakers, and her first novel published in 2000 Finding Tom Connor. Her non-fiction work includes a collection of columns, The Modern Girl's Guide to Life (2002), the royalties for which were donated to the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation. Her memoir, Stuff It! A Wicked Approach to Dieting, she has described as 'inspired by reading Ellen Degeneres and Fran Drescher's half nonsensical memoirs'. The Sunday Star-Times wrote on By Bread Alone, Sarah-Kate had 'cleverly Nigella-ed the "chick lit" genre by peppering the familiar lessons-in-love fare with descriptions so vivid and replete, I for one had a culinary epiphany', finishing up: 'Witty, charming, faithfully passionate to its subject and emotionally adept. If only this book was a man.' In The New Zealand Herald, Margie Thomson wrote of this novel, and Sarah-Kate's fiction in general: 'Her plots buzz along ... , her characters spring recognisably to life, she's extremely lively and funny ... especially when she's skewering the world of social flim-flam, but with a feel for language that results in some lovely imagery and, in this latest novel, genuine poignancy.' Graham Beattie in Citymix declared 'Lynch has moved to a new level which assures her of a bright future as a writer on the international stage. This is her breakthrough novel.' The Publishers Weekly reviewer described Blessed Are the Cheesemakers as being '[i]n the spirit of Chocolat ... a tender love story told through the medium of cheese', while Next magazine found Finding Tom Connor a 'cross between Bridget Jones's Diary and Waking Ned Devine, this is a romantic and rollicking good read'. The Dominion Post concluded of The House of Peine, which is set in a chateau and vineyard in the Champagne region of France: 'Impeccably researched, it reads like a dream.' While reviewing By Bread Alone, the Nelson Mail said: 'the humour, laugh-out-loud comedy and liveliness of the writing will be as familiar as the distinctive characters that populate her books. The well-researched attention to detail seems to be a trademark of her books, too.'