The Christmas table
(Audiobook)

Title from disc label.

Read by the author.

"In June 1972, Joan Creighton's husband, John, who never made more than a picture frame, promises to make a kitchen table by Thanksgiving--last year was the final holiday their family would eat at that old Formica table. Inspired to put delicous meals on her new table, Joan learns to cook using the handwritten recipes her mother gave to her when she and John got married. Then one day Joan receives a devastating diagnosis, and Josh is more determined that ever to finish the table for her. In June 2012, Lauren Mabrey discovers she's pregnant. Having never truly had a safe and loving home of her own while growing up, she worries whether she will be able to provide one for her child. As she and her husband prepare for the baby, they come across an old table that feels just right for their future meals as a family of three. Inside a drawer under the table, Lauren finds a stack of recipe cards. Notes have been written on each one from a mother to her daughter, and Lauren finds she wants to make the mother proud by following all her recipes. Reaching across the span of fourty years, the two women are connected by these recipes and a homemade kitchen table. For both Joan and Lauren, the table is a promise. A promise of a happy family and home. As Christmas draws near, Joan battles breast cancer, and Lauren prepares for her baby's arrival. Both of them follow the same recipes handed down by Joan's mother, and they learn that while home isn't always a particular place, it can always be a table where family and loved ones can gather and enjoy a home-cooked meal." --inside jacket (print edition)