Rating: 
Summary: The Bread of Love.
Review: In French, « bread alone » became « le pain de l'amour », i.e. 'the bread of love', and I think it's a gorgeous translation. Love refers to the life of Wynter (and just to Life) as well as to the bread (and its baking). In this marvellous book, everything is sweetness and poetry. Rain and fog drenching Seattle, the little house without any comfort rented and improved and loved by the heroine, the attaching women' draw a veil of tenderness along the book. Wynter still loves the husband who threw her out of his life, and this love of bread is a way for her to try and forget him, but it's probably not enough to make a success of her new life. The reader really hopes she'll find a man to love her and give another sense to her life. No preciousness, no violence, in this gorgeous book, tinted with grey but also with so much hope and sweetness, a book you'll read and savour with a huge pleasure, just like a very good bread.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard to feel sorry for this shallow character
Review: In French, « bread alone » became « le pain de l�amour », i.e. �the bread of love�, and I think it�s a gorgeous translation. Love refers to the life of Wynter (and just to Life) as well as to the bread (and its baking). In this marvellous book, everything is sweetness and poetry. Rain and fog drenching Seattle, the little house without any comfort rented and improved and loved by the heroine, the attaching women� draw a veil of tenderness along the book. Wynter still loves the husband who threw her out of his life, and this love of bread is a way for her to try and forget him, but it�s probably not enough to make a success of her new life. The reader really hopes she�ll find a man to love her and give another sense to her life. No preciousness, no violence, in this gorgeous book, tinted with grey but also with so much hope and sweetness, a book you�ll read and savour with a huge pleasure, just like a very good bread.
Rating: 
Summary: Learning about life and love while baking in Seattle!
Review: In recent years, many fiction titles written by women authors focus on female relationships featuring a particular location or occupation. In the past these relationships have taken place in a beauty parlor as was described in Lorna Landvik's book Patty Jane's House of Curl or the Hollers as in Big Stone Gap by Adriani Trigiani and even a friendship group as in The Saving Graces by Patricia Gaffney and now a bakery as in Bread Alone, the first book by Judith Ryan Hendricks. And while the topic isn't entirely new the author did a fairly good job of conveying the plot in an enjoyable manner using an interesting location and city.Wyn Morrison is an unfulfilled woman. Married to a succesful man with a poor job record before her and no encouragement from her husband, she is a familiar face on the ladies luncheon circuit, tennis courts and charity events. In every sense of the word Wyn is David's wife, dressing up for him when they go out and smiling at dinners with clients. Somehow, though, Wyn becomes rather complacent about her life which can't be said for her husband. Suddenly Wyn finds herself with a husband who is seeking a divorce from her so he can marry another woman. While Wyn is somewhat adrift at first, as we read on we sense that now Wyn has the opportunity to strike out on her own and find her way alone. And all the while we are the witnesses as she stumbles into a bakery while visiting a friend in Seattle. Finding out that extra hands are needed at the bakery, Wyn finds herself suggesting that she become part of the satff. And within days she has flour up to her elbows as this job brings back a flood of memories about her student days when she apprenticed to a baker with a small shop in a town near Paris. As Wyn bakes bread she also tries to figure out why her life turned out the way it did and what she can now do to make it better. In no time at all Wyn becomes ingrained in the life of the Seattle bakery making friends with other workers as well as neighbors eager for her company and Wyn knows she ia at home finally. If this book is somewhat reminiscent of other titles where a newly divorced woman first alone and lonely, finds a job, grows up and begins to lead a productive life, it is Judith Ryan Hendricks pleasant writing and attention to emotions which does set this book apart. And as an added bonus the author manages to capture the vibrancy, sights, sounds and smells of the wonderful city of Seattle.
Rating:
Summary: great debut novel
Review: Judi Hendrick's Bread Alone is a wonderful read. When Wynter is left by her yuppie husband, she travels to Seattle to bunk with a friend and nurse her wounds, but ends up finding a life. Much of the action takes place in a bakery run by an eclectic group of women who throw themselves into their work to heal their hearts. That's story enough for this reader, but Hendricks takes things further by introducing great men who add another layer to the women's lives. What I loved most about this book is that the women's friendships are the core of the story. Hendricks shows us them warts and all, and gives the reader a rich, chewy story to enjoy even after the last page is turned. I look forward to her next book.
Rating:
Summary: I WANT YOUR NEXT BOOK!
Review: JUDITH RYAN HENDRICKS, I want your next book -- and I know it's just a matter of time before we all see "Bread Alone" on the screen. Thank you for skillfully crafting a feel-good story, expertly balancing emotions, nourishment, recovery and even revenge.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely Book
Review: Make a cup of tea, curl up in a comfy chair then open "Bread Alone". You will want to read all day. At the moment I'm baking scones, a recipe taken from the book, and they smell heavenly. If you like Seattle, bread, music, romance and discovering what really makes a person happy...then you will like this book. Susan
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable, from first page to last.
Review: Ms. Hendricks' debut novel is brilliant. Her writing style is engrossing, pulling you in, imploring you to turn page after well-written page. She creates a main character who is struggling her way through a crumbling marriage and thus, and a bit of an identity crisis at the same time. There are times when Wynter seems self-absorbed, but it makes her endearing, as most of us tend to become egocentric, especially when we're going through hard times. Overall, she's a good-hearted person, floundering her way through a difficult time in her life the best way she knows how. I see by other reviews here I'm not the only one who has developed an interest in baking my own bread. If only I better understanding of how to create a "chef" - I'm sure it's much more complex than it sounds, especially for someone as kitchen-challenged as myself!
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable, from first page to last.
Review: Ms. Hendricks' debut novel is brilliant. Her writing style is engrossing, pulling you in, imploring you to turn page after well-written page. She creates a main character who is struggling her way through a crumbling marriage and thus, and a bit of an identity crisis at the same time. There are times when Wynter seems self-absorbed, but it makes her endearing, as most of us tend to become egocentric, especially when we're going through hard times. Overall, she's a good-hearted person, floundering her way through a difficult time in her life the best way she knows how. I see by other reviews here I'm not the only one who has developed an interest in baking my own bread. If only I better understanding of how to create a "chef" - I'm sure it's much more complex than it sounds, especially for someone as kitchen-challenged as myself!
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written
Review: Poeticly beautful. Well written. Story of healing and self-empowerment. Of learning to be strong enough to love and doing it on your own. I highly recommend this book and look forward to her next.
Rating:
Summary: Bread Alone~
Review: The cover of Bread Alone immediately grabbed my attention; an inviting bakery with a cute green awning, fresh loaves of bread and baked goods displayed in the window. This is one book that you can judge by it's cover. The story was just as cute & cozy. Wynter is in the 7th year of her marriage to David when he springs the news on her that he "needs a break." In shock and sorrow, Wynter retreats to Seattle where her friend C.M. suggests she come to get away for awhile. Wynter finds herself presented with an opportunity to bake bread in a quaint little bakery, The Queen Street Bakery. Bread Alone explores the pain of getting over heartbreak, of what it's like to discover the person you thought you would wake up to for the rest of your life, no longer wants you. It takes us down the path of mother/daughter relationships and opens our eyes to the growing pains of discovering who we really are, and what makes us happy. It's also about frienships, both those with our most trusted and endearing girlfriends, as well as with the men who can prove that there are still some good ones out there. The recipe for this novel is complete as Judith Ryan Hendricks also gives us just that: recipes for bread, scones and the like woven into the heart of her story. Make sure you curl up with some piping hot, fresh bread and butter when you read this one, the cravings are endless, and the story a sastisfying and filling one.
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