Eating Between the Lines

World of Pies: A Novel

Hyperion, 160 pp., $18.95

Perhaps I was predisposed to like author Karen Stolz’s sweet little book about coming of age in small-town Texas because her protagonist, Roxanne Milner, and I are the same age and we grew up in towns where our beloved fathers were well-known businessmen. Roxanne’s dad sells lingerie and mine ran a drugstore, but Roxanne is a huge fan of small-town drugstores, so that’s close enough. It’s either that connection or the fact that I’m inspired by Stolz’s success at stringing together a series of gentle, family vignettes with dessert recipes and publishing it as a novel. Either way, the author is a woman after my own heart.

We first meet Roxanne Milner in the summer of 1962, when she’s a gangly 12-year-old tomboy more interested in baseball than baking pies. But her family is caught up in a world of pies that summer, with Dad heading the Chamber of Commerce pie fair and Mom on the contest rules committee. The small town goes to battle over whether or not a local society matron can enter her black housekeeper’s pie as her own. Roxanne’s mother holds fast to her contention that each pie must bear the name of the baker who actually prepared it. In this beautifully crafted first story, Roxanne learns both the fine art of handling pie crust and the consequences of taking a stand. The accompanying pie recipes are equally delightful, as honest and delicious as the story.

In each stage of Roxanne’s life, from tomboy-hood through first dates and all the way through the birth of her own child, Stolz creates a finely rendered, understated story to define the experience and an inviting recipe or two to sweeten the pot. There’s the tender, heart-piercing story of Roxanne’s middle-aged dad sneaking off to YMCA kiddie swimming classes so he can learn to swim in time to surprise her mother on a vacation trip to Austin’s Barton Springs pool. Carl Milner’s behavior reveals his love for his wife and illuminates his character for his daughter in a poignant chapter titled “The Kind of Man My Father Was.” In less skilled hands, the chapter that combines the first summer vacation after her father’s death with the return of Roxanne’s beloved cousin Tommy from Vietnam — missing an arm — might devolve into cliché, but with Stolz’s deft touch, it’s an achingly real family portrait, with the bittersweet solace of Tommy’s favorite hot fudge sauce at the end. Perhaps my favorite scene is Roxanne’s “hippie wedding,” a December affair with the bride wearing tights and L.L. Bean boots under her wedding dress and the groom in long underwear under his Mexican shirt. Maybe it rings so true because I sang Bob Dylan songs at a wedding somewhat like that more than 20 years ago.

My personal connections aside, this is a lovely book and well worth the read. It’s modest in aspiration, simple, and true in spirit. World of Pies is small in size, just right for slipping into carry-on luggage or a bag bound for the pool or beach. Roxanne and her family will make good summer companions and their recipes could make a delightful gift for your loved ones.

This article appears in June 2 • 2000.