Take Five Interview: Barbara O’Neal and The Lost Recipe for Happiness

Today marks the release of seasoned novelist and WU contributor Barbara Samuel’s new book, The Lost Recipe for Happiness. Barbara authored Lost Recipe under the name Barbara O’Neal (see her post on that change HERE), but that doesn’t change the high-quality work her many names represent. She’s written a number of highly acclaimed and RITA-award winning novels, and is well known for her richly layered and emotionally authentic storytelling. Lost Recipe marks an exciting new direction for her, as she fully explores magical realism and merges it with another of her loves–food! We’re thrilled she took time out for this Take Five interview with us. Enjoy!

Q: What’s the premise of your new book?

BO: A woman chef who is haunted by her devastating past is offered the opportunity of her career–a chance to open a world class restaurant in Aspen.

Q: What would you like people to know about the story itself?

BO: The Lost Recipe for Happiness is about falling in love with life again after grief has ripped you to shreds. It’s packed with food and recipes and characters who need each other in all kinds of ways–friends and lovers, siblings and coworkers and dogs.

Q: What do your characters have to overcome in this story? What challenge do you set before them?

BO: Twenty years ago, Elena Alvarez was the lone survivor of a catastrophic car accident that killed four other people, including the sister who continues to haunt her. Although Elena has made the best of it, going on to travel the world as a chef, learning from the best in Santa Fe and Paris, London and San Francisco, she has carefully constructed defenses against the world, like a conquistador in plate armor.

She has come to a crossroads where she must either collapse into herself and her wounds, or finally put aside her defenses and let other people in. Meanwhile, she has a restaurant, The Orange Bear, to get into shape. She has to battle a chef she’s displaced, assemble a staff, plan menus and deal with setbacks, bad reviews, and a devastating blow that hits half her staff as the restaurant is about to open.

Another protagonist in the book is Julian Liswood, a man who has also suffered terrible losses. A celebrity restaurateur and director, he has a teenage daughter in trouble, and a host of responsibilities resting on his ability to pull off his next horror film.

There are others characters facing their own struggles, too. Julian’s daughter Portia is far too old for her years; Ivan is the cynical, tattooed, gay chef who can’t quite give up the possibility of a fresh start; and Isobel, who has a mission to see her sister into a new life. Oh, and Alvin, of course, Elena’s dog and best all around friend, a rescue chow mix who prances everywhere.

Q: What unique challenges did this book pose for you, if any?

BO: I should think of something, but I swear I loved this book from the first second Elena arrived, bringing her dog and her recipes and her ghosts with her. That was the biggest challenge, honestly–I was ferociously protective about the way it arrived and I didn’t want a lot of feedback. It wasn’t a book I could easily squeeze into a synopsis. (Most working novelists will sell a book on a proposal, three chapters and a synopsis.)

Luckily, when I told my agent I was going to write the whole thing, she was respectful of my desire to do that, but she wanted to see parts of it as I went along. I sent her pages at around 150 pages, and then again when I finished, and I did some revisions both times before we went out to publishers with it. I landed with an editor I’ve worked with in the past, Shauna Summers, and I am absolutely thrilled with our partnership.

In the end, we’ve had three auctions, in the US, in Germany, and between the UK and Australia, plus selling a lot of other subrights, so it all seems to be working out.

Q: What has been the most rewarding aspect of having written this book?

BO: It was such a luxurious, luscious, sensual book to write. The food, the people, the setting (Aspen is one of the most beautiful places on earth) and the ghosts. It was rewarding to explore the question of grief and how long we sometimes have to carry a thing around before we can finally let it go. And how sometimes, even the darkest events send our lives to the most miraculous places.

Thanks so much, Barbara, and best of luck with your intriguing new book!

Readers, you can pick up a copy of The Lost Recipe for Happiness at bookstores nationwide, or click to order a copy through Amazon HERE. I should be receiving my pre-ordered copy today, and I’m anxious to read it. It’s a book that’s sure to spice up the New Year!

Therese Walsh

Therese Walsh (she/her) co-founded Writer Unboxed in 2006 and is the site’s editorial director. She was the editor of WU’s only book, Author in Progress, and runs the Writer Unboxed UnConference.

Her second novel, The Moon Sisters, received starred reviews and was named one of the best books of the year by Library Journal and Book Riot.

Learn more about Therese on her website, and sign up for her newsletter to be among the first to hear about any new projects.

www.theresewalsh.com/