Contains bibliographical references [pages 485-486].

Alice Hale left a career in publicity to become a writer and follow her husband to the New York suburbs. Unaccustomed to filling her days alone in a big, empty house, she is captivated by a vintage cookbook found buried in a box in the old home's basement, and by the cookbook's previous owner. As Alice cooks her way through 1950s housewife Nellie Murdoch's past, she realizes that within the cookbook's pages are clues about Nellie's life-- including unsent letters penned to her mother. Uncovering a more sinister side to Nellie's marriage, Alice begins to take control of her life-- and protect herself with a few secrets of her own.