Baking Cakes in Kigali

The voice of Angel Tungaraza is kind, sympathetic, and always authoritative as she goes about her business of baking cakes in the Rwandan city of Kigali. For Angel, baking cakes is more than a way to earn money for her family; it's how she connects with the people around her, cares for her friends, and eases the pain of the past. Adenrele Ojo narrates the story with precision, switching among the different accents--African and American--without pause. She gives middle-aged Angel a warm, comforting tone as she takes care of her five orphaned grandchildren while never forgetting that she is a "professional somebody." Parkin gives just enough background on the Rwandan civil wars to provide an understanding of what Angel and her neighbors have lived through, but the heart this book is a wonderful listen for anyone who enjoys food and the closeness of family. R.A. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

June 29, 2009
Set in an international apartment complex in Rwanda, Parkin's appealing but overstuffed debut throws together university professors, U.N. employees and CIA agents among a panoply of traditions and cultures. Heroine Angel Tungararza has moved from Tanzania with her husband, Pius, who's taken a job at the local university; before long, she develops a reputation as a masterful baker and a sagacious friend. Though haunted by the deaths of her grown daughter and son, Angel plunges back into motherhood, caring for her five grandchildren, tending to Pius, baking cakes and dispensing advice. Meanwhile, the sour undercurrents of AIDS and genocide play quiet but instrumental parts in shaping Angel's world. In Parkin's eagerness to introduce a rainbow of cultures and personalities, she crowds her enjoyable but terminally dedicated heroine, forcing Angel to take a saccharine supporting role in her own story; almost simultaneously, she's soothing survivors of Rwandan genocide, reconciling a local prostitute and her client, and serving as an honorary mother-of-the-bride.