Keeping up with Magda
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Book Overview
In the Scottish fishing village of Mareth, everyone knows everything about each other - and what they don't know they assume; the villagers live against a constantly changing backdrop of elaborate scheming and sexual innuendo. At the hub of this world is the Ocean Cafe, run by tousle-haired, forty-something Magda, who makes grown men eat their greens, won't serve customers she doesn't like, and loves her children and their father with a passion. When Jessie Tate, devastated by recent tragedy, rents the flat above the cafe in an escape from the city, her dream of peace and solitude is shattered by the rock 'n' roll music that thuds through her floor. But perhaps a dose of life in an intimate, colourful and utterly self-absorbed community is just what Jessie needs to break free of her ghosts...
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0747251126
ISBN13:9780747251125
Release Date:April 1996
Publisher:Headline
Length:224 Pages
Weight:0.39 lbs.
Dimensions:0.8" x 5.0" x 7.5"
Customer Reviews
3 ratings
Fascinating characters and setting
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
This is not a typical small town/ greasy spoon diner setting. The characters have great depth and Dewar explores and develops them wonderfully, at the same time avoiding both cliches and predictability. Jessie is leaving both a cosmoplitan life and a painful relationship to move to a small Scottish fising village, where she encounters Magda, the uncompromising gourmet chef of a modest cafe. Through numerous twists and philosophical musings, a fascinating story unfolds. Between the dialogue, dry humor, and food, I enjoyed every second that I spent in the Ocean Cafe. Entertaining, intelligent, and highly entertaining.
Small Town Life Wins?
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
Read this after a trip to Scotland (I'm from the U.S.). We had visited a very old town with narrow streets and where my impression was everybody was in everybody else's business. This was a quick read which I enjoyed, perhaps because I had the visual context...
Humanity,humour and beyond the obvious relationships
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 27 years ago
Jessie Tate leaves Edinburgh and a failing relationship for a village on the Fife coast. She comes across Magda owner of the Ocean Cafe who seems to have the roles of mother daughter and lover easily under control. Isla Dewar explores the intricacies of each of her characters and their foibles with a humanity and a dry Scottish wit that leaves you wiser and smiling.
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