Teaser Tuesdays: A kinda sorta love story

Usually, for Teaser Tuesdays, I follow accepted practice and post a couple sentences from a book I’m currently reading. But I’ve always been a rebel, and I don’t see why I should change now.

For the second day of Valentine’s week, I thought I’d post a snippet from an under-appreciated author’s first book, Dancing on the Edge of the Roof by Sheila Williams. I would never have read this book, or even heard of it, except that I heard Sheila WIlliams tell her story in a radio interview. She was a corporate executive, left her job, burned the bridges, and began a writing career.

Like Sheila, her character, Juanita Lewis, a grandmother at 41, leaves the violence and poverty of inner-city Columbus, Ohio on and ends up in Paper Moon, Montana. There she faces off with chef and diner owner Jess Gardiner, which lands her in front of his stove, serving up home cookin’ that lures the townsfolk like a magic spell. Suddenly, Juanita, who was just passing through, now has a job by popular demand.

Ever since I’ve read it, Juanita’s story has stuck in my mind as a testament to the fact that it’s never too late to do what you want to do or to be what you want to be.

Here’s my teaser, from page 112:

I can’t pronounce half of the stuff Jess has on his dinner menu… Like “shiitake” mushrooms, for instance.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just follow the directions at the “Teaser Tuesdays” post.

-TimK