Olivia or the Weight of the Past - Tapa blanda

Divorcing her Italian husband after realizing that he cares more for her cooking than for her, Caroline returns to the United States and is overjoyed when her daughter seeks her out four years later, until she learns of young Olivia's hostility. Reprint.

NG, CAPTIVATING NOVEL."
--San Francisco Chronicle
For Caroline the kitchen has always been her home, and Italian food her specialty. In fact, the minute she sets foot in Italy--and meets the appreciative Angelo, who loves her cooking like nobody's business--Caroline decides to stay.
But even the magic spices of Italy can't make her marriage taste right. Angelo takes over the raising of their beautiful daughter Olivia, who, by the age of ten, hardly speaks to her mother. Caroline leaves the country and her daughter for four years, until Olivia seeks out her mother in New York. Caroline is overjoyed and hopeful--until she reacquaints herself with the difficult, demanding daughter she could never stop loving but discovers she doesn't exactly like....
"Between the risotto and the romance, Rossner treats family life with a wise and witty touch."
--Us Magazine
"Everything you expect from a Judith Rossner novel: story, character, language, and uniquenes