From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home: A Reese's Book Club Pick
by Tembi Locke
)
Shop All Audiobooks
*When you open this audiobook on Libro.fm, be sure to select Aveson as your bookstore so that your purchase supports local literacy programs and tree‑planting.
Couldn't load pickup availability
Now a limited Netflix series starring Zoe Saldaña!
This Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller is "a captivating story of love lost and found" (Kirkus Reviews) set in the lush Sicilian countryside, where one woman discovers the healing powers of food, family, and unexpected grace in her darkest hours.
It was love at first sight when actress Tembi met professional chef, Saro, on a street in Florence. There was just one problem: Saro's traditional Sicilian family did not approve of his marrying a black American woman. However, the couple, heartbroken but undeterred, forged on. They built a happy life in Los Angeles, with fulfilling careers, deep friendships, and the love of their lives: a baby girl they adopted at birth. Eventually, they reconciled with Saro's family just as he faced a formidable cancer that would consume all their dreams.
From Scratch chronicles three summers Tembi spends in Sicily with her daughter, Zoela, as she begins to piece together a life without her husband in his tiny hometown hamlet of farmers. Where once Tembi was estranged from Saro's family, now she finds solace and nourishment--literally and spiritually--at her mother-in-law's table. In the Sicilian countryside, she discovers the healing gifts of simple fresh food, the embrace of a close knit community, and timeless traditions and wisdom that light a path forward. All along the way she reflects on her and Saro's romance--an incredible love story that leaps off the pages.
In Sicily, it is said that every story begins with a marriage or a death--in Tembi Locke's case, it is both. "Locke's raw and heartfelt memoir will uplift readers suffering from the loss of their own loved ones" (Publishers Weekly), but her story is also about love, finding a home, and chasing flavor as an act of remembrance. From Scratch is for anyone who has dared to reach for big love, fought for what mattered most, and those who needed a powerful reminder that life is...delicious.
Share
Book Details
ISBN:
9781501187667
EAN:
9781501187667
Binding:
Paperback
Pages:
352
Authors:
Tembi Locke
Publisher:
Simon & Schuster

This book is such an engaging, heartwarming experience…It has made me cry and smile and crave for all the yummy goodness- gelato, espresso and pasta…It is filled with rich sensory narratives... It has inspired me to savor each meal, linger more in a loving embrace, allow the warmth of the sun to envelop me in its radiance….
Absolutely loved the story even though I cried thru most if it. Saw the mini-series first and actually enjoyed that more than the book because of the focus was less death and grief and more of the relationship building. Tembi Locke is great writer. Her descriptions of Sicily and the lifestyle of her new relatives and townspeople were amazing. I felt like I was actually there with her. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, especially anyone dealing with grief .
Great movie great book!! I ordered for me and one for a friend
I laughed and I cried. What a great story teller. I was right there with her through out the book. Thank you Tembi. I don’t know if I want to say that I hope you found love again. You are strong on your own.
I’m so sorry, I wanted to love this book as my hereditary is Sicilian, but I didn’t. To me this was a journal of healing and discovery. I felt so sorry for Tembe, but I just didn’t want to go so completely through her self-discovery. I loved her time with her husband, Saro, and I would have liked more of their love story.What she wrote about them was beautiful. I guess I just didn’t want him to die. But what bothered me most was that the book went and forth between past and present. It was a little confusing to me since there was no real break in the writing. A paragraph would end in one time and the next would be the other.I loved her family. How close they were and there’s for her. His family as well, those were the parts I liked. For me, the best parts were her time with her mother-in-law. Two women who didn’t communicate but learned to love and accept each other.I hope Tembe keeps the home in Sicily and goes there as often as possible to be one with that town, the people, and the culture.
)