Books by Erica Bauermeister

No Two Persons

“That was the beauty of books, wasn’t it? They took you places you didn’t know you needed to go…”

Alice has always wanted to be a writer. Her talent is innate, but her stories remain safe and detached, until a devastating event breaks her heart open, and she creates a stunning debut novel. Her words, in turn, find their way to nine very different readers, from a teenager hiding her homelessness, to a free diver pushing himself beyond endurance, an artist furious at the world around her, a bookseller in search of love, a widower rent by grief. Each one is drawn into Alice’s novel; each one discovers something different that alters their perspective, and changes their lives. Read more…

The Scent Keeper

“Back before there was time, I lived with my father on an island, tucked away in an endless archipelago that reached up out of the cold salt water, hungry for air…”

Emmeline lives an enchanted childhood on a remote island with her father, who teaches her about the natural world through her senses. What he won’t explain are the mysterious scents stored in the drawers that line the walls of their cabin, or the origin of the machine that creates them.  As Emmeline grows, however, so too does her curiosity, until one day the inconceivable happens, and Emmeline is vaulted out into the real world – a place of love, betrayal, ambition, and revenge. Read more…

House Lessons

“A choice of a home is not just about where we’ve been or what we remember; it’s also about who we want to be…”

In this mesmerizing memoir-in-essays, Erica Bauermeister renovates a trash-filled house in eccentric Port Townsend, Washington, and in the process takes readers on a journey to discover the ways our spaces subliminally affect us. A personal, accessible, and literary exploration of the psychology of architecture, as well as a loving tribute to the connections we forge with the homes we care for and live in, this book is designed for anyone who’s ever fallen head over heels for a house.  Read more…

The School of Essential Ingredients

“We’re all just ingredients.  What matters is the grace with which you cook the meal…”

Once a month on Monday night, eight students gather in Lillian’s restaurant kitchen for a cooking class. They come to learn the art behind Lillian’s dishes, but it soon becomes clear that each one unknowingly seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. One by one, they are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of what they create. Over time, the paths of the students intermingle and intertwine, and the essence of Lillian’s cooking expands beyond the restaurant and into the secret corners of their lives, with results that are often unexpected and always delicious. Read more…

The Lost Art of Mixing

“Lillian was a woman in love with a kitchen…”  

A luminous sequel to The School of Essential Ingredients, and a captivating meditation on the power of love, food, and companionship.

Lillian and her restaurant have a way of bringing people together.  There’s Al, the accountant who finds meaning in numbers and ritual; Chloe, a budding chef who hasn’t learned to trust after heartbreak; Finnegan, quiet as a tree, who can disappear into the background despite his massive height; Louise, Al’s wife, whose anger simmers just below the boiling point; and Isabelle, whose memories are slowly slipping from her grasp.  And then there’s Lillian herself, whose life has taken a turn she didn’t expect… Read more…

Joy for Beginners

“You can be broken, or you can be broken open. The choice is yours…”

A group of seven women gather for an outdoor candlelit dinner in Seattle to celebrate their friend Kate’s recovery from cancer. Wineglass in hand, Kate makes a pact with them: to start her new lease on life, she’ll overcome her fears and go white-water rafting down the Grand Canyon. But if she goes, each of them must also do one thing in the next year that is new or difficult or scary – and Kate gets to choose their challenges. Read more…

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