Kigali Cakes: A Sweet Story of Baking and Beyond

CEN: This book is very interesting & compelling. Its stories weave around a Rwandan cake baker who is more than an artist in her field. She becomes a therapist as she listens to the stories of the many customers that enter her home to order a cake. The author touches upon many of the problems & tragedies the have plagued & continue to plague her country.

United States on Jul 03, 2023

mimbza: Baking Cakes in Kigali is a delightful debut novel set in contemporary post-genocide Rwanda. The author is a white Zambian who has lived in several African countries including Rwanda. The story revolves around Angel Tungaraz, a Tanzanian who has moved with her University professor husband, Pius, to Kigali in the year 2000 with her 5 orphaned grandchildren who she is raising. Angel is also the proud proprietor of a cake business and soon has many customers coming to her flat for a cup of sweet cardamom-flavoured tea while they order a cake and find Angel to be a kind and wise confidante. Although this story acknowledges many of the traumas and issues facing Rwandans including the horrors of their recent past, HIV-AIDS, FGM, poverty, and the ineptness and at times corruptness of foreign aid agencies, it does so with a light-hearted gentle tone. Angel’s beautiful, colourful cakes are baked for celebrations and seek to remind us that despite everything there is still hope, life, love and many reasons to laugh and celebrate. Angel is a wonderful, likeable main character, who becomes a mother figure to many, including struggling shopkeeper Leocande whose wedding she organises with...

Australia on Jul 19, 2022

B. Talb: This book was recommended to me by a friend when she heard we were going on safari in Tanzania. The protagonist of this novel is Tanzanian, and having just returned from Tanzania, I can say that the author captured the essence of the people very well. Many sensitive issues, e.g. the Rwandan genocide, AIDS, Ebola, female circumcision, are covered in a realistic, but not depressing way. The heroine, Angel, has a cake baking business. Her customers feel comfortable confiding in her; she draws out their stories by asking for details of what kind of cake they want which leads to a kind of therapy session. It is an episodic novel in that each chapter concentrates on one person's story, but many of the characters appear in each chapter in one way or another.
The book presents a clear picture of life in a contemporary African city.

United States on Aug 19, 2016

Carolyn J. Ridpath: The story does an excellent job of describing events in Africa. These include the killings in Rwanda and social disruptions in other Central and East African countries. The author doesn't beat us over the head with the atrocities, but gives us just enough information. She then lets us know how people have gotten on with their lives. Angel, the heroine, has kindness and understanding that allows her to deal with difficult situations in a tactful manner. We see her evolution as a mother and grandmother. Painful subjects come up as relates to HIV/AIDS, infidelity, prostitution, and broken families. For a reader who is encountering these subjects for the first time, it is educational. I took the book to my South African friends, only to discover they had already read it. I highly recommend it.

United States on Jul 04, 2015

Sarita: I enjoyed Baking Cakes in Kigali, even though I was reluctant to read it because of it's title. It was recommended by my Book Club.The book started slowly but eventually turned out to be a good read .There were important issues like child soldiers and female genital mutilation which were dealt with .
The novel was written with empathy. Angel (we see the book through her eyes) is depicted as a well rounded character.
She is compassionate as well as intelligent.
Gaile definitely knows and feels for her subject matter.
I would definitely recommend this book .
Gaile Parkin must be a wonderful person herself.
The title of the book is deceptive...there is definitely more to this book than it's title.

United States on May 27, 2013

Nicola: I was drawn to this book because I'm a big fan of The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency and a lot of reviewers have commented on the likenesses between the characterisation and settings of the books so I definitely thought this was worth a read.

This book is actually a genuinely touching novel of family, friends and overcoming adversity in a country that has been mired in atrocity.

Set in Rwanda post-genocide, the story centres on the wonderful sounding Angel Tungaraza, a middle-aged cake-baker who is something of a sounding board and shoulder to cry on for her eclectic array of friends. Despite Angel's outwardly bubbly appearance, she herself has been touched by tragedy, and as she encounters friends and neighbours who have faced troubling, sometimes heartbreaking situations of their own, she realises that life can also be a celebration of overcoming adversity. What better way to celebrate than with cake and tea?

Funny in places, poignant in others, the book is more a character study than in any way plot heavy. You learn a lot about aspects of Rwandan culture and attitudes to situations and events, which was a bit of an eye-opener, though it is told in a...

United Kingdom on Apr 08, 2011

OldEnglish: I only bought this book because I've been sponsoring a boy in Rwanda for some years. Most of what I hear about Rwanda relates to the genocide, but I am curious to learn more about what might be happening in that extraordinary part of the world. In describing the fictional lives of people who currently live in Kigali, as motley a crowd as one might expect in any capital city these days, Gaile Parkin, through the voice and perceptions of Angel, presents a tapestry of the socio-cultural issues that I feel plausibly exists there these days.

Ascribing excellent cake-making skills to Angel gives Parkin the requisite entree to people of all social strata in her community, and to raise a large number of issues that are problematic in many areas of the world, including the Western part, where I live - all of which invoke not only of Rwanda's horrific recent history but also deal with the matter of inclusion/exclusion that caused the genocide there and continues to fuel suspicion, fear, hostility, and violence all over the world.

Parkin touches tellingly on a large number and wide range of troubling and contentious social issues that exist just as much in Western...

United States on Nov 28, 2009

F. Pearson: First of all, apologies to Alexander McCall Smith if I appear to be knocking his enjoyable and popular series based around  The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency  but this is a different proposition. Although there are superficial similarities in terms of setting and the central character (not to mention the book jacket), where the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency provides a light, entertaining read, this book has a much more serious backdrop, which casts a dark shadow over the proceedings.

Which is not to say that the book doesn't trip along at an enjoyable clip - the prose is both colourful and lively - but the characters' lives have been blighted by the genocide in Rwanda, and this is the horror that permeates the characters' lives.

Quite apart from being a good story and a great read, this book has two strengths: firstly, it humanises an event of such a scale that is difficult to comprehend at face value. By bringing it down to the experiences of a few people, Gaile Parkin makes the mass murder that is safely at a distance on the news, immediate and very real.

Secondly, through strong, believable characterisation, she also demonstrates the human quality...

United Kingdom on Jun 07, 2009

SEm: I recently felt inspired to start a book group, and the grand total of TWO of us decided to read this book first. The pink cover caught my eye, and I liked the idea of the plot.

Angel is a lovely, warm character, who is instantly likeable, loveable, and very believable in her humanity. She lives in a compound in Rwanda, with her husband and five grandchildren. As the plot develops, more characters are introduced to us, Angel establishes more friendships and I developed great empathy for her. She faces the reality of losing her own son and daughter, and with every cake she bakes for another friend or neighbour, she explores "African issues" such as genocide, female circumcision and the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Little things matter; Angel's little habits, the things she notices in others, and the minor, seemingly insignificant details noted in the writing made the story real, so visual. I still think about the Captain's chocolate-coloured teeth! Along with that, 350-odd pages is usually a task for me, but this was a pleasure to read, and almost sad to finish! On top of that I read it within five days, which is a huge achievement for a very busy somebody! :D

I loved...

United Kingdom on May 16, 2009

Damaskcat: Angel has recently moved to Rwanda with her husband and five grandchildren. Her business is making cakes. Everyone who comes to see her to order a cake has a story to tell or a problem to solve. Many people have suffered unimaginable horrors or are living with the time bomb of HIV/AIDS but are somehow managing to get on with their lives and find something to celebrate. All nationalities are here - the American, Canadian, British and Asian workers - both volunteer and salaried. This is an international novel which does not shirk the difficult issues in everyone's life. But through it all Angel, with her down to earth practicality, humour and gift for seeing and understanding other people's problems shines through. Her cakes brghten up everyone's lives and her simple wisdom helps her customers come to terms with their problems - big or small. Whether it is celebrating a marriage, a homecoming, a Christening or even a divorce, there is always a reason to order one of Angel's cakes.
This is a novel of hope and reconciliation and it shows how human nature and frailties are the same wherever you go. It shows how some people are able to make something out of nothing and find hope...

United Kingdom on Dec 25, 2008