Baking Cakes in Kigali Paperback by Gaile Parkin

Product Details

• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart (2010-07-06)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 320 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780771069024
• Item Weight: 272.16 grams
• Dimensions: 8.0 x 5.2 x 0.9 cm

Baking Cakes in Kigali is a tale in fourteen confections, and behind each cake lies a story. As baker Angel Tungaraza busies herself with her customers’ orders, we learn about their lives: Ken Akimoto — with his penchant for partying, her best client — and Bosco, his lovesick driver; Dr. Rejoice, without whom she’d never cope with the hot flashes that send her delving into her brassiere for a handkerchief so often these days; Odile, an AIDS worker whose love life Angel has taken a keen interest in; and not forgetting young Leocadie, Modeste, and their baby boy, Beckham. Angel works her magic, solving problems for all around her; and in turn, they help her lay her own demons to rest: perhaps she can finally face the truth about the loss of her own son and daughter, and achieve a sense of peace . . .

Hauntingly charming, funny, and involving, Baking Cakes in Kigali is a novel about the real meaning of reconciliation — about how, in the aftermath of tragedy, life goes on and people still manage to find reasons to celebrate.

About the Author

Gaile Parkin was born and raised in Zambia and studied at universities in South Africa and England. She has lived in many different parts of Africa, including Rwanda, where Baking Cakes in Kigali is set. She spent two years in Rwanda as a VSO volunteer at the new university doing a wide range of work: teaching, mentoring, writing learning materials, working with the campus clinic to counsel students with HIV/AIDS, and doing gender advocacy and empowerment work. Evenings and weekends, she counselled women and girls who were survivors. Many of the stories told by the characters in Baking Cakes for Kigali are based on or inspired by stories Parkin was told herself. She is currently a freelance consultant in the fields of education, gender, and HIV/AIDS.