What do readers think of Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin? Write your own review.

Baking Cakes in Kigali is a long winding road of a book. Centered around Angel, a baker of specialty cakes, you are immediately drawn into her world. Her strength, her sense of family, and her willingness to listen and learn endear her to the reader almost immediately. While the hardship in her life, and lives of those around her, is obvious, you get the sense that life, to Angel, holds endless possibility and undiscovered joy. This book is truly a journey, and one well worth taking. You really just want it to go on and on.

"Baking Cakes in Kigale", a first novel by Gaile Parkin, Takes place in Rwanda some years after the civil war. Each chapter is titled after an occasion for which the main character, Angel Tungaraza, has been hired to bake one of her famous cakes. In getting to know the people for whom she is creating her confectionery masterpieces, Angel learns the stories of their lives, some tragic, some full of humor. This is one of those special books that keeps you fully engaged while at the same time infusing the story with an important political message. It bears witness to the terrible tragedies of AIDS, genocide, malaria, poverty and government corruption, and all the while manages to be heartwarming and full of joie de vivre.

I love to bake and I love to eat cake and I love learning and reading stories about Africa, so I knew Baking Cakes in Kigali had to be a recipe for a great read and I was not disappointed.

All of the characters were delightful and I enjoyed the way Angel, the cake baker, engaged her customers to tell their stories over a cup of tea and a cupcake. The fact that these stories were based on real stories made the book especially interesting. It is hard to read about genocide and poverty, but Parkin's characters overcame their tragedies.

Angel, is middle aged and she dealt with issues many people deal with such as raising grandchildren, the change & even AIDS. I was wishing recipes had been at the end of the book. I was hungry for cake!

Angel, a Tanzanian living in Rwanda after the genocide, bakes cakes for celebrations. The book seems at first to be a gentle tale but slowly reveals the darker, yet uplifting, side of everyday life. Frequently funny, Baking Cakes is filled with wisdom, unforgettable characters and situations and, throughout, an indomitable spirit. Written with empathy and clarity and an obvious love of Africa and African culture,. this one will stay with you a long time. A book to read and re-read and then pass on.

Angel Tungaraza and her family live in a compound in Rwanda among many expatriates. Angel brings together, is touched and touches, the lives of many as she meets with her fellow expatriates and shares their stories to make them the most wonderful, beautiful cakes. I had some trouble in the very beginning finding Angel's voice, but once I got past that I enjoyed the book, found the shared stories and revelations insightful and would recommend this book. Definitely a great book club book.

This is an engaging, episodic story, even though at times a little contrived with the dropping of buzz topics (feminism, lesbianism, AIDS, circumcision,). Although she is reminiscent of Alexander McCall Smith's lady detective, this book's Angel Tungaraza stands as her own person. Her wisdom and straightforward approach to life are worth adopting.

I enjoyed reading a novel set in Rwanda, and it was very easy to warm to the main character, Angel, and the positive message of reconciliation, however, the plotting was rather weak resulting in somewhat static characters. The great joy of a novel for a reader is the opportunity to vicariously witness change, growth and transformation while you are in the author's charge. In this story I couldn't shake the sensation of ending up right where we started 300 plus pages earlier. While it was a pleasant journey, it wasn't an all-together compelling one.

Angel Tungaraza, main character of Baking cakes in Kigale, serves her customers by baking cakes to bring them pleasure and by offering personal advice to solve their problems. Over a cup of tea, with wit and wisdom, she seeks out her customers' needs, but slyly suggests her own ideas to create the best cakes. Her conversations include health issues, affairs of state, women's rights and problems of the heart - always with regard to suggesting a possible solution to a customer's dilemma.

I was most impressed with the author's success at portraying the Rwandans' attempts to create solutions for current political and social problems while maintaining their traditions. This book entertains, but also details how the African has experienced genocide, corrupt government and AIDS and yet survives to develop a daily life of tradition imbued with responsibility, joy, mirth and caring. Creating cakes with conversations - a clever maneuver to acquaint the reader with a part of present day Africa.