For this round - our October-November selection - of Cook the Books , Simona of Briciole chose Tomorrow There will be Apricots by Jessica Soffer.* You can read Simona's announcement: here . I wrote a little bit about this book when I posted my version of Masgouf for Foodie Reads 2016 a couple of months ago. What a delicious fish dinner! It's become a favorite preparation in our household. On the Page... Jessica Soffer is a gifted writer. But as talented as Soffer is, I found the plot implausible and the characters more cliché than compelling. Think about a troubled 14-year-old who self-harms and longs for the affection of her icy mother who is a professional chef. Think about an Iraqi Jewish immigrant who has recently lost a her husband and gets cajoled into teaching cooking classes. Everything you imagine about a widow with regrets and an angst-ridden teen exist in Victoria and Lorca, respectively. Then those two characters coll...