From Scratch cover art

From Scratch

A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home

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From Scratch

By: Tembi Locke
Narrated by: Tembi Locke
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About this listen

 Now a limited Netflix series starring Zoe Saldaña!

This Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller is “a captivating story of love lost and found” (Kirkus Reviews) set in the lush Sicilian countryside, where one woman discovers the healing powers of food, family, and unexpected grace in her darkest hours.

It was love at first sight when actress Tembi met professional chef, Saro, on a street in Florence. There was just one problem: Saro’s traditional Sicilian family did not approve of his marrying a black American woman. However, the couple, heartbroken but undeterred, forged on. They built a happy life in Los Angeles, with fulfilling careers, deep friendships, and the love of their lives: a baby girl they adopted at birth. Eventually, they reconciled with Saro’s family just as he faced a formidable cancer that would consume all their dreams.

From Scratch chronicles three summers Tembi spends in Sicily with her daughter, Zoela, as she begins to piece together a life without her husband in his tiny hometown hamlet of farmers. Where once Tembi was estranged from Saro’s family, now she finds solace and nourishment—literally and spiritually—at her mother-in-law’s table. In the Sicilian countryside, she discovers the healing gifts of simple fresh food, the embrace of a close knit community, and timeless traditions and wisdom that light a path forward. All along the way she reflects on her and Saro’s romance—an incredible love story that leaps off the pages.

In Sicily, it is said that every story begins with a marriage or a death—in Tembi Locke’s case, it is both. “Locke’s raw and heartfelt memoir will uplift readers suffering from the loss of their own loved ones” (Publishers Weekly), but her story is also about love, finding a home, and chasing flavor as an act of remembrance. From Scratch is for anyone who has dared to reach for big love, fought for what mattered most, and those who needed a powerful reminder that life is...delicious.©2019 Tembi Locke (P)2019 Simon & Schuster UK Culinary Europe Genre Fiction Mental Health Awareness Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-Ins Professionals & Academics Western Europe Marriage Heartfelt Memoir Romance Italy

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All stars
Most relevant
I rarely leave reviews of the audiobooks I read/ listen to but this was such a special book I needed to say thank you to Tembi. She shared her story in a way that totally made me feel like I could taste the food, see the Sicily way of life and feel the deep love and sorrow in the passing of Saro. I laughed and cried listening to it and I definitely recommend this book

Beautiful love story wonderfully told

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I loved this book. Although an autobiographical re-telling of Tembi Locke's life with Saro and his loss it reads like a fictional love story. Her relationship with Italy and Sicily is beautiful and has been an honour to learn about.

A beautifully honest book.

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LOVED IT! 😍. Beautiful reading by the author and an unforgettable story that evoked multiple emotions. simply magical and I can not now wait to start the Netflix series of this brilliant, well writen memoir. My heart just swelled with love and empathy for this life that was handed to Tembi and a hope that she and her daughter be enveloped in happiness and new loves.

Beautiful, emotional and just magical.

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l felt that Tembi had got the balance of this account of her life just right.
The message of her disaster in life was not overdone and the account of the cultures was good.
A very diversified structure and it proved thst "telling it as it is" brings the facts together, just right.
Well written and narrated.

What a interesting book.

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I started this book and got info in quickly and loved the beginning ... its narrated well by the author based on her own true story of love, loss and Sicily. I felt it rather lost momentum after the death of Saro and although great descriptive writing it wandered a little aimlessly from that point onwards. I have seen that it is being made into a drama for Netflix. I will watch it with interest to see how the second half of the story is handled

Just not quite sure ...

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