The underground world of the food industry in San Francisco opens up as Lois wades deeper into the world of baking sourdough. These were welcome insertions that added a deeper layer to the overall story. Image from Ī secondary narrative is emails from one of brothers, Boereg, to Lois discussing the Mazg and their culture. This is what a sourdough started looks like at the early stage. I loved the magic realism element this brought to the story it was very subtle, not overbearing and just strange enough that it seems plausible at some point. The story doesn’t exactly have the mystery thread that was a strong element in the author’s debut, but instead it offers a peculiarity in the form of Lois sourdough starter – it is alive and sings. To put it simply, Sloan’s novel is about Lois’s quick plunge into the world of baking sourdough bread.

As a parting gift, they leave behind the sourdough starter that sets Lois on the path of baking. But soon, the brothers have to pack up and leave. Lois becomes their “number one eater” with her nightly order of soup paired with a satiating sourdough bread. The menu is from Clement Street Soup and Sourdough, a home-based takeout service run by two brothers from the mysterious culture called the Mazg. It begins with a takeaway menu which balms the grind of Lois’s job. Online image, a view of San Francisco – the novel’s setting. I became more interested in the path she would take, and how learning to bake would contribute to her life. I recognised the slump that was taking over her life. At this point, sans-Slurry, I completely related to Lois. The working hours are long, her hair is falling out and she’s living on a “fully dystopian” nutritive gel called Slurry. Lois soon realises life as one of the “Dexterous” isn’t easy.

She is courted into joining General Dexterity, a company that creates robotic arms for industrial use. Twenty-something Lois’s story doesn’t actually start with baking. This time it happens in the food industry, through the story of code-writing IT professional Lois Clary, the novels’ flour-dusted protagonist. One thing is certain contesting traditions and technology as a theme is Sloan’s forte.

In SOURDOUGH, Sloan does for food and baking what he does for books and typography in his immersive 2012 debut, MR. Sloan’s second novel kept giving me reasons to keep reading, aside from his impeccable writing flecked with quotable nuggets. “Here’s a thing I believe about people my age: We are the children of Hogwarts, and more than anything, we just want to be sorted.”Īny book that makes an intelligent Harry Potter reference gets a free star from me. Just a few pages into the start of SOURDOUGH by Robin Sloan I realized I going to have a good time with this book, even if I didn’t end up loving it.

Sourdough by robin sloan review