Nothing could be more out of character, but after fifty-nine years of marriage, as her husband Bernard's health declines, and her friends' lives become focused on their grandchildren—which Jenny never had—Jenny decides she wants a little something for herself. So she secretly applies to be a contestant on the prime-time TV show Britain Bakes. Whisked into an unfamiliar world of cameras and timed challenges, Jenny delights in a new-found independence. But that independence, and the stress of the competition, starts to unearth memories buried decades ago. Chocolate teacakes remind her of a furtive errand involving a wedding ring; sugared doughnuts call up a stranger's kind act; a simple cottage loaf brings back the moment her life changed forever. With her baking star rising, Jenny struggles to keep a lid on that first secret—a long-concealed deceit that threatens to shatter the very foundations of her marriage.
If you love British Baking Show, you'll eat that stuff up but, even if you don't, you may respond to Jenny, an extremely likable creation who never thought of herself as a real baker until she took a chance and entered the competition ... Warm and cozy.
Connections can feel forced and the dialogue in between is somewhat heavy-handed. But in spite of all this, the story moves at an impressive clip ... In the end, Ford transports you back to that cozy, something’s-in-the-oven world where you somehow know (or at least believe) that everything is going to be OK.
