Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies: A Novel

It is a heartwarming story of an almost 40 year old woman in denial of her love life and life itself meets a 97 year old woman facing her last days and together build a friendship that changes both of them. Great read. Summer beach book.

Vicky Zimmerman is a wonderful writer, and this book is so fresh and fun to read. A great escape during quarantine. Highly recommend!

I really enjoyed this book! Just what I needed at this time in my life. I love British humor and this book was funny, but also a sweet story about how we bond with people and they can shed light on our lives--an objective view.

Reader, I skimmed back through the book to find the most intriguing recipe titles; then I glanced at the back of the book, to find them there as well. If you’re intrigued by the following, you’re going to enjoy the book, I’ll venture.
“Tea for a Crotchety Aunt”, “Breakfast with a Hangover”, “Dinner for a Charming Stranger”—recipes with advice for food, life, and love.
When I picked up the book, I was expecting a feel-good story about a woman who starts volunteering at an old-folks’ home, and figures out her life thanks to advice from a crotchety old lady with a heart of gold. What I got was a story with more depth, about an intergenerational friendship that made me laugh and cry.
Kate is a modern British woman, working an ok job in marketing at a food emporium and trying to bring an ok boyfriend up to scratch so she can start married life. On her fortieth birthday, she and Nick are on vacation in France when he admits, no, he doesn’t want to move in together after all, and Kate has to move back in with her mother temporarily since she’d already given up her flat share. Seeing her floundering in chaos, Kate’s friend talks her into volunteering as a way to get out of her head. Unfortunately, the kitten socializing program is full, so that leaves the care home.
Cecily is 97, and she’s been waiting to die for years. She’s impatient, sad, and angry. She can’t enjoy her books any longer, and reading was the only thing that made her life bearable. She’s forgotten more about food than any of the other ladies ever knew, and she’s not impressed with Kate’s first efforts at the cooking demo. One thing age can bring is honesty over social convention; despite a rocky start Cecily and Kate talk about the reality of their lives and friendship develops, giving two lonely people the opportunity to move on from fed up with life to feeding the soul.
It’s a perfect read for this holiday season, when friends and family remain physically distant to protect the vulnerable; there’s always comfort food, but sometimes we need to reach out in new ways to learn new recipes for life and love.

I loved this book - one of those "keepers." The author, Vicky Zimmerman, did an excellent job of defining her characters, 40 year old Kate Parker and 97 year old Cecily Finn. The story pulled me in and didn't let go until the end. Such a satisfying ending, such a fun read throughout. In places, laugh-out-loud funny; in places thought provoking. I'm reluctant to "pass it on" because I fear I wouldn't get it back.

Great story line and character development. I like books with cooking in them and this fit the bill. Definitely felt all the feels at the end of the book. Recommended to a friend and they loved it too.

The books arrived early, I was able to have them for a special event

Didn't like the boyfriend-loved the rest of the book

Miss Cecily's Recipes is written by an exceptional lady. It's funny, sweet, touching, takes you through a whole rollercoaster of feelings. The relationship between Kate and Mrs Finn reminded me of the stories I used to hear from my Grandmother, and it is refreshing to read a book where the central relationship is platonic and the interplay between two age groups is quite relevant.
Great read!

I must admit that when I started this book I feared that it would turn into a romance and I would soon close it from boredom. I was surprised to find that, although it does have a small side dish of the romantic, in the main it is a story of finding your most fulfilling path and bravely changing direction if you find yourself on the wrong road. It was also a pleasant surprise to find out from the author’s notes that, although it is a book of fiction, the delightful Cecile of the title is based on the author’s grandmother who wrote the cookbook mentioned in the novel.