Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love by Kim Fay

Love & Saffron
Photo of book cover taken by Kate Dorsey

    If you love food, this is the book for you. There are different descriptions throughout of the food the characters discover and try. Something people who are into food will probably love.

    If you’re not a food person, Love & Saffron is for you as well. I say this being not a huge food person myself. I tended to zone out at the food parts, which is what made me think I would not finish this book at first. Then I thought how silly it would be to drop out on a book so quickly when it was less than 200 pages long. At least get to page 50. Which I did. Then I got to page 100, to page 150, and to the end. By keeping going, I found myself reading a great story about a beautiful friendship.                      

    It all started with a packet of saffron. Joan Bergstrom, a woman in her twenties, living in Los Angeles, sends it to a columnist she enjoys. The columnist is Imogen “Immy” Fortier. She lives outside of Seattle with her husband of forty years, Francis. Immy is thrilled to hear from Joan. She writes back, beginning a friendship with Joan formed through letters.

    Back and forth Joan and Immy write and send letters. At first, the letters are mostly train-of-thought and about food. Over time, the letters become much more personal.

    Joan writes about her romantic life and career that turn for the better after she starts writing to Immy, but also has its difficulties. She falls in love with a carpenter, Mateo Rodriguez. It is the 1960s, and a relationship between a white woman and a Mexican man would be looked upon badly in society. Also, Mr. R, as Joan calls him, is only a few years younger than Joan’s mother. He is a widow with two adult daughters and a grandchild.

    When Joan finds herself pregnant, she becomes convinced she cannot keep the child. Because of society, she could never publicly be in a relationship with Mateo, meaning he could not be acknowledged as the child’s father either. Nor would she be accepted as a single mother.

    For the abortion, Joan travels down to Mexico. (Which goes to show, no matter how many rights are taken away, or laws created, ways to have an abortion will still be found. Sadly, often with tragic consequences.) Joan writes to Immy from Mexico, uncertain about her decision. Immy offers her support no matter what Joan chooses to do. Eventually, Joan decides to have the baby. She just doesn’t know if she will keep it.                          

    Adoption becomes less of an option for Joan when she visits a hospital for unwed pregnant girls. The girls are treated horribly. Referred to as only a number instead of by their names. They live in desperation for the workers at the hospital to treat them like people.

    After this visit, and with the support of her mother, Joan decides to keep the baby. It is not, however, a decision made with Mateo’s support. He does not even know Joan is pregnant. Joan has refused to speak to him or take his calls since she went to Mexico.

    Immy is also supportive of Joan keeping the baby. In fact, she is excited about the arrival. She takes up knitting in order to knit things for the boy or girl when they arrive. It is one of the many changes Immy has made since becoming friends with Joan.

    Once the packet of saffron arrives, Immy’s life becomes much more adventuresome. She travels and tries new foods. Francis takes up cooking and begins to open up about his wartime past. A past that happened before they were even married.

     On a sadder note, Immy also experiences health concerns. For quite some time she has dealt with headaches. Changing glasses prescriptions has not helped. Something more serious is going on.

    Yet, even when going through the worst, Immy wants to hear about how Joan and the soon-to-arrive baby are doing. She enjoys reading about Joan’s growing career as a writer about Mexican food. And no matter what her health does to her, Immy is determined to remain positive.

    The ending is sweet and sad and happy all at the same time. Throughout the book, we experience great characters. Joan and Immy are kind and caring. They support each other no matter what is going on. Even though they only met in person once, their relationship is stronger than many between people who see each other all the time.

    Both women have good men in their lives. Mateo is loving and patient when many men would have written Joan off for her behavior after finding out about the baby. Francis is there for Immy through everything she goes through. It was really sweet reading the parts where Francis typed Immy’s letters because she no longer could. The fact he was a bad typist didn’t matter. He was helping his wife in any way he could.

    It is nice to read a story where there are only good characters. Oh, there were some bad ones that show up for a moment (I’m thinking of the people who worked at the hospital for unwed pregnant girls), but they were there for such a short time, the story easily went on without them. This book was also a lesson on how there is not one way to have a friendship. Joan and Immy were of two different ages, two different stages in life, and from two different parts of the country. Yet, they managed to create a friendship of love and support that should be greatly admired.     

Friendship Bracelet
Artwork by Kate Dorsey