“The first time Avis knelt on a chair and stirred eggs into flour to make a vanilla cake, she had an inkling… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“How would you feel about doing a little something in the kitchen?" Avis asks tentatively. Brian laughs. He used to assist her… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“She considers a tray of flaky 'jesuites,' their centers redolent of frangipani cream, decorated with violet buds preserved in clouds of black… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“But Stanley persisted in the kitchen, performing the small yet demanding apprentice's tasks she set for him- removing the skin from piles… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“This morning's pastry poses challenges. To assemble the tiny mosaic disks of chocolate flake and candied ginger, Avis must execute a number… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“As she piped rosettes, docked a sheet of dough, or doused a tart with sanding sugar, another world occurred on the doorstep.… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“Flour and yolk and cream are all coarse- of the earth. But sugar and air and vanilla are elements of the firmament.… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
If you only write for 15 minutes at a time, you can write a book and still have time for Legos. — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share
“The streets of Aqaba are shell spirals and, on summer nights, crowded and complicated as a woman's heart.” — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share
I'm constantly at war with myself to quit goofing around, and the internet hasn't helped that any. I've learned that I have to be… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share
“Sometimes when she lies awake her body feels as finely made as a tuning fork. She can hear and smell the most delicate things,… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share
The daily writing practice is something I used to hear batted around a lot in writing workshops - which is probably why I dropped… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share
“...tasting a piece of bread that someone bought is like looking at that person, but tasting a piece of bread that they baked is… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share
“She thinks of Stanley's colored pencil drawings of theoretical businesses: a cafe, a bookshop, and, always, a grocery store. When she was ten and… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share
“The loneliness of the arab is a terrible thing; it is all consuming. It is already present like a little shadow under the heart… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share
“She's been scouted by Ford and Elite- real New York agencies. Micah, the agent for Elite- a tall black guy in silver eyeliner- said… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share
“On the top rack is a cooled and decorated seven-layered 'opera' cake. Her client- the Peruvian ambassador- had requested a "tropical" theme for a… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share
Here is something you have to understand about stories: They point you in the right direction but they can't take you all the way… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share
“The first time Avis knelt on a chair and stirred eggs into flour to make a vanilla cake, she had an inkling of how… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share
“You want to protect you children, don't you? You let them out of your body but you never let them all the way out.” — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share
“..a phantasm, a pink-palmed jinn, a ghost from one of the drowned cities.” — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share
