The Christmas Cookie Club

The Christmas Cookie Club: A Novel Mass Market Paperback – October 25, Ann Pearlman’s irresistible novel provides the perfect ingredients for a fun and touching read about a group of women who gather each year to share a journey of friendship, hope, heartbreak—and.
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Who else knew about the betrayal, and how can that be forgiven or forgotten, even among old friends such as these? Rosie's husband doesn't want children, and she has to decide, very soon, whether or not that's a deal breaker for the marriage. Taylor's life is in financial freefall. Each woman, each friend has a story to tell, and they are all interwoven, just as their lives are. On this evening, at least, they can feel as a group the impulses of sisterly love and conflict, the passion and hopefulness of a new romance, the betrayal and disillusionment some relationships bring, the joys and fears of motherhood, the agony of losing a child, and above all, the love they have for one another.

As Marnie says, the Christmas Cookie Club, if it's anything, is a reminder of delight. The Christmas Cookie Club is about the paths Marnie and her friends have traveled, the absolute joy they take in life and love despite the decisions they've regretted, the hard choices and amends they've had to make, and the sacrifices along the way. Ultimately, The Christmas Cookie Club is every woman's story.

As you read about Marnie and her friends, their struggles and triumphs, what makes them laugh and what has made them cry, you'll see yourself and some of the ingredients of your own story. Celebrating courage and joy in spite of hard times and honoring the importance of women's friendships as well as the embracing bonds of community, Ann Pearlman has written a novel that speaks to us all. Your Cart items Cart total. Free eBook available to NEW subscribers only.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 Dedicated Issue: Atria

Must redeem within 90 days. See full terms and conditions and this month's choices. This reading group guide for The Christmas Cookie Club includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book. Introduction Every year on the first Monday of December, a group of women gather to share cookies, food, wine, and stories. Meanwhile, the guests have problems of their own: But they come together, knowing that dark times and snowy nights call for the warmth that only friends can provide.

Questions for Discussion How does the present action of the narrative, as well as the way details are revealed about characters, affect your reading of the novel? In what ways does the story draw the reader in as a new member of the group? More Books from this Author.

A Gift for My Sister. The Christmas Cookie Cookbook. Bake in degree oven for 20 minutes. Place them back on the paper and add more confectioners while they cool.

Wednesday, May 20, Dedicated Issue: Atria | Shelf Awareness

My dream flutters away as I open my eyes. I stretch my arm out for Jim, but he is gone. Outside, the snow falls in tight crystals, almost like fog. Disney sits laughing beside my bed, his tongue lolling and his tail thumping the carpet. Today is a big and busy day and I had better start it. My hands plunge under my armpits for warmth as Disney disappears behind the garage. Should have mowed the lawn one last time. The microwave tings and I grab the coffee and continue staring absentmindly out the window.

Only four in San Diego. I wonder if Sky is awake. During the Christmas cookie party. Disney bounds from behind the garage, black ears flopping and sits at the sliding glass door. He runs in when I open it and shakes off the snow. I sip my coffee and scan the kitchen and dining room. The cookie party forces me to get decorated for Christmas. Mini bulbs are strung on the tree outside. Chili pepper lights surround my kitchen window. A few wrapped presents and my collection of Teddy bears cluster around the base. The one that Alex bought Sky for her first birthday lost an eye twenty years ago and Sky knitted him a lopsided red sweater when she was ten.

I plug the tree lights in and it looks like Christmas. After I turn up the thermostat, I make my bed, straighten the room, and slide on some jeans and a red tee-shirt. Then I tie on my cookie bitch apron, the one Allie had made with the stenciled cookie rules. At first, the pecans clattering around the Cuisinart sound angry until the nuts are sufficiently broken. This year, Sky and Tara will get an extra dozen of the pecan balls so the recipe is multiplied by three and a half.

I put the butter, a pound and a half of it, in a glass container and turn on the microwave. I add in the measures of flour, sugar, vanilla and salt. The microwave dings and I pour in the melted butter and turn on the mixer. While it stirs, I pull out cookie sheets, and reach in the drawer for parchment paper. Then I scrape down the batter into the depths of the bowl and this batch is done.

Editors' Note

Everything, I tell her. But I remember my dream and wonder if I had it because I love Jim or simply because I just want to recapture our great sex. Flour feathers my hands as they roll the balls and I dote on the methodical, rhythmical work. My hands place the morsels in rows of four across the top edge of the sheet. Three dozen on each sheet. The simplicity and beauty of the math, and the routine reminds me of women spinning yarn with a drop spindle, kneading dough, harvesting berries, beading shoes, weaving, or grinding corn.

I am connected to those ancient women, and to women around the world as all of us, each of us, make food, clothes, tools for our families, our friends, ourselves. I place one sheet in the oven and start on the next.

Questions?

The easy part is done. For a few minutes I return to the peaceful rolling, and place the sheet in the oven, check the timer. I drag out a sheet and rest it on the table. The cookies are the brown of fall oak leaves, the aroma of cooked pecans fills the room. Seger sings about autumn rushing in and here it is winter. How did it happen so quickly this year? I think about the revolving seasons and the motions we go through during each of them. I start rolling balls for the third sheet.

And then slide the loaded parchment from the hot sheet onto the table, put the metal on the stove to cool and gently place the balls in confectioners. Too hot and fingers get burned. The second sheet is done and I go into the kitchen to retrieve it. I jerk around to reach the receiver lying on the counter next to the empty butter container and hit my cheek on the corner of an open upper cabinet.


  1. The Christmas Cookie Club.
  2. My other books.
  3. KIRKUS REVIEW.

The door bangs closed, my cheek smarts and the sting spreads. Just tossing and turning. The cookies roll in the sugar. I just got out the first sheet. After all, they were both in law school and Sky plans her life to achieve her goals. Bit she called to brag that they had gotten pregnant on the very first try. I bought fabric to make my first grandchild a quilt, was carrying it into the house, when she called, crying.

She had lost the baby. She said we could try again in six months. This is one helluva period.