The Arrangement, Ashley Warlick
The Arrangement, Ashley Warlick
List: $20.00 | Sale: $14.00
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The Arrangement

Author: Ashley Warlick

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell

Unabridged: 10 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 02/09/2016


Synopsis

“Absolutely dazzling.” –Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife

“Filled with food and passion...If you love historical fiction, you'll fall hard for this one.”  —Bustle.com

She’d made it sound as though her husband would be joining them for dinner. She’d made it sound that way on purpose, and then she arrived alone.

Los Angeles, 1934. Mary Frances is young, restlessly married, and returning from her first sojourn in France. She is hungry, and not just for food: she wants Tim, her husband Al’s charming friend, who encourages her writing and seems to understand her better than anyone. After a night’s transgression, it’s only a matter of time before Mary Frances claims what she truly desires, plunging all three of them into a tangled triangle of affection that will have far-reaching effects on their families, their careers, and their lives.
 
Set in California, France, and the Swiss Alps, The Arrangement is a sparkling, sensual novel that explores the complexities of a marriage and the many different ways in which we love. Writing at the top of her game, Ashley Warlick gives us a completely mesmerizing story about a woman well ahead of her time, who would go on to become the legendary food writer M. F. K. Fisher.

About The Author

Ashley Warlick is the author of four novels. Her work has appeared in Redbook, The Oxford American, McSweeney’s, and Garden and Gun, among others. The youngest ever recipient of the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship, she has also received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She teaches fiction in the MFA program at Queens University in Charlotte, South Carolina, and is the editor of the South Carolina food magazine edibleUpcountry. She is also the buyer at M. Judson, Booksellers and Storytellers in Greenville, SC, where she lives with her family.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Suanne on May 10, 2019

I loved it. Not everyone will. But I am this book’s audience. It is my book. And I ate every word.......more

Goodreads review by Carlene on February 10, 2016

ARC received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. To read more of my reviews visit Carlene Inspired. Mary Frances invites him to dine with her husband, a husband that likely was never invited himself. Based in 1934, Mary Frances has found a desire to write and a desire to love, two things m......more

Goodreads review by Chris on February 06, 2016

There seems to be interesting trend in writing about real life characters but in a fictional setting. This new book takes creative license with M.F.K. Fisher and brings you into the story about her love for husband's best friend and her torn feelings about the need to care for her husband. A little s......more

Goodreads review by Amy on November 20, 2018

How is it possible that I missed this book when it came out? A friend recommended it and I'm so glad she did. This is an absolutely gorgeous, sensual, beautifully written novel about MFK Fisher's affair with her husband's best friend. Food, sex, glamorous travel, and the real-life story of a woman w......more

Goodreads review by Sarah on March 01, 2016

A very low 3 stars. Whilst interesting to read about M.F.K Fisher and her life, this is incredibly slow moving and I found very difficult to make it through. A shame as this had potential.......more


Quotes

“If you love historical fiction, you'll fall hard for this one. . . . Filled with food and passion, this is the perfect book to accompany a candlelit dinner.”
Bustle

"The sensual adventures of food writer M.F. K. Fisher will keep the pages turning."
Parade.com, "10 Romantic Reads for Valentine's Day"

"If you occasionally partake in culinary pleasures, you'll probably enjoy digging into Ashley Warlick's novelization of beloved food writer M. F. K. Fisher's life."
InStyle

"A delight....Though The Arrangement is about marriage and friendship in the 1930 and 1940s, the novel’s story of a woman and her work is timeless."
Charleston Post & Courier

"[The Arrangement] offers a lovely, affectionate portrait of the complicated woman who would become M.F.K. Fisher."
Bookpage

"[Warlick's] writing is smooth and elegant. The love and anguish experienced as marriages unravel is palpable and painful to the reader.”
Historical Novel Society

"Stellar . . . A beautifully written treatment of love in its different forms."
Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Food writing fans may want to check out a novelization of the life of M.F.K. Fisher, focusing on . . . the more salacious personal details of the beloved food writer’s life."
—The Millions, "Most Anticipated Books of 2016"

“A ravishing depiction of the time when M.F.K. Fisher was giving herself over to her essential appetites—for language, food and consuming passion. Ashley Warlick’s prose, sharp and true as the edge of a honed blade, is a revelation. Absolutely dazzling.”
—Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife

“Written in language both sensuous and evocative, The Arrangement is the story of a woman who hungers to experience everything in life. A compelling story about the costs—and risks—of being true to one's self, and the courage it takes to live against convention.”
—Kim Edwards, author of The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

“I devoured and loved every word of Ashley Warlick’s audacious imagining of M.F.K. Fisher’s great love affair. The Arrangement is a powerful, enthralling, delectable thrill.”
—Kate Christensen, author of The Great Man

“A sophisticated and unapologetic tale of wayward desire that I read far too long into the night, worrying about how M.F.K. Fisher could possibly solve her excruciating dilemma—a dilemma that is at once impossible, seductive, and heartbreaking.”
—Robin Oliveira, author of My Name is Mary Sutter

“Ashley Warlick spins a beguiling tale of a complicated woman, sensuous and multi-layered as the food she chronicles. A scrumptious treat.”
—Janice Y. K. Lee, author of The Expatriates

The Arrangement gives vivid voice to the complicated, fascinating, rule-breaking M.F.K. Fisher. Ashley Warlick brings the famous food writer’s world to life in sensual and deliciously literary detail.”
—Meg Waite Clayton, author of The Wednesday Sisters

“Warlick skillfully reveals the story of a young woman’s sensual and creative awakening with meticulous craft and fervent splendor.”
—J. Ryan Stradal, author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest

“Ashley Warlick brings M. F. K. Fisher to life, revealing the depths of her restless, complicated, hungry soul. This is a book to be savored.”
—Ann Mah, author of The Art of French Eating