The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry

Finding herself suddenly unemployed, former middle manager Flinn fulfills a lifelong dream by enrolling at the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris. Listeners are there step-by-step as she learns to chop, fillet, sauté, braise, and plate hundreds of entrées, overseen by finicky chefs. Flinn's French was originally spotty, but Cassandra Campbell's pronunciation isn't. Neither is her portrayal of Flinn, determined, dismayed by dropping her half of a duck, delighted by her intensifying relationship with her future husband, Michael. Even non-cooks will be fascinated by her clear descriptions of food dishes, Paris, her lodgings, and new friends. Only the recipes that are included are out of place for audio. They sound delicious but are read too fast for copying. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine