I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes

Author: Jaclyn Moriarty

Publisher: Picador

Price: $30.00

Buttermilk kisses and pancake dreams

I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes has been described as a "grown up fairytale" and I couldn't agree more with this statement. Jaclyn Moriarty's new novel is a bold blend of fairytale storyline dealing adult issues and themes. This is a very inventive and creative novel, childlike in its storyline but with adultery, relationships, adolescents and family problems all encompassed.

Moriarty has created some very loveable, adorable yet quirky characters and the book is really a story within a story. Throughout the novel you are introduced to a lot of information about how air ballooning: In 1810, a hot air balloon, flown by a confectioner crashed into the sea. Everyone survived. It's surprising what can be made of a capsized balloon. Towards the end of the story, you do make the connection between the story of hot air ballooning and the current storyline. A very ingenious and witty idea brought to the page by Moriarty.

You will meet one character who writes a list of irritating things about her husband, one (a 2nd grader) yells explicit words out repeatedly in her classroom, one who has an affair with an aeronautical Engineer who writes some very strange poetry, one who learns spells like 'how to make someone decide to catch a taxi', one who writes erotic novels and one who writes endless letters to an Editor that doesn't exist. Now, I have either scared you off the book or enticed you to read more. Please stick with me and the book, it really does make sense.

"a delightful read for adults wishing to let their imaginations be stretched"

What all the characters have in common is the Zings: Maude Sausalito, a pastry chef is married to a Zing; Listen Taylor, a lonely 12 year olds big brother just moved in with a Zing, and Cath Murphy a 2nd grade teacher doesn't know it yet, but a Zing is about to join her class. The Zing family live in a misguided world of spell books, flying beach umbrellas, and state-of-the-art covert surveillance equipment. There's a slippery Zing whose shoes fall from her feet when she runs, and a tidy Zing who writes letters to Cath. But most significant of all, there's the Zing Family Secret; so immense that it draws the family to the garden shed for meetings every Friday night. However each Zing is normal in a way as each is dealing with an issue of great importance about their relationships with each other.

Each chapter of the book focus' on a different character and their point of view, with a running thread of a storyline joining them all together. There are a lot of pieces that seem to not make sense when you start reading the novel, but it really does all come together in the end. However I think I was a little let down by the ending. As you progress through the story you come closer to understanding the Zing Family Secret and it is described thoroughly at the end but still you want to know what happened to the character who found out about it - the ending didn't seem positive, but maybe it was and I just missed it. I would definitely read this book again to pick up the cleverly hidden but tangible signs leading to the conclusion. And really the final story about the hot air balloon does sum up the story in full. It is a story of making mistakes but then having faith and hope that everything will work out for the best.

I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes is a delightful read for adults wishing to let their imaginations be stretched, it has the joy of reading a child's book but with a lot of adult themes to think about. Simple in its statements but full of delicious characters and witty storylines to really let you ponder the overall idea. Give it a go, it really is worth it.

Michele Perry

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