The Instant National Bestseller
& #1 Indie Next Pick

Love & Saffron

Two strangers. One recipe. A friendship for the ages. 

Creamy Risotto alla Milanese. Mussels in a hot, buttery broth. Chicken spiced with cinnamon and cloves. In 1960s America, Joan Bergstrom and Imogen Fortier understand the key to a savored life—delicious food. Young Joan is just discovering herself as a food writer in bustling Los Angeles, while experienced columnist Imogen is settled in her decades-long marriage on Camano Island outside Seattle. When Joan sends a fan letter to Imogen with an enclosed packet of saffron and a recipe, their journey of culinary exploration, soul-deep friendship, and personal transformation begins. 

A long-lost flavor surfaces buried memories, shifting Imogen’s relationship with her husband into something new and exciting, and a quest to make carne asada opens the doors of a sheltered life, showing Joan that true love does not always come in the form we expect it to. As their horizons expand, their friendship becomes their anchor and the mirror through which each better sees and understands herself. Into this beautiful, intimate world comes the ultimate test—of their belief that food and love can carry us through our darkest hours. 

Witty, tender, and wise, Love & Saffron shows how human connection is the only thing that matters, and the most powerful antidote to troubled times.

"Food is far from the only thing to provide nourishment: I absolutely loved this novel... I wanted to go on reading it forever."

— Nigella Lawson

Praise

  • “Fay’s emotionally generous novel demonstrates how people’s worlds can expand when they open themselves to new possibilities.”

    — Booklist

  • “Warm, delicious, and absolutely satisfying - I devoured it in one enthusiastic gulp!”

    — Meg Waite Clayton, author of The Last Train to London

  • “Nearly impossible to put down… By the end, I was shedding tears along with the characters, and felt as if I’d made two friends. This is an irresistible story of two women from a lost time, both determined to make the best of things.”

    — The Seattle Times

  • “In the footsteps of Laurie Colwin and Ruth Reichl, Love & Saffron is a beautiful, gentle, intimate exploration of food and friendship, as well as life, loss, and love.”

    — Susan Elia MacNeal, author of The Hollywood Spy

  • “Love & Saffron is simply a delight … Kim Fay reveals how a love of food can open doors into culture, history, homes, and love.”

    — Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle

  • “In an age when we’re barraged with Twitter blow-ups, pandemic deaths, and political discourse of the most uncivil kind … Kim Fay convincingly recreates a charming and civil world, and a touching friendship, in a period piece that will restore you to your kinder, gentler self.”

    — Richard C. Morais, author of The Hundred Foot Journey

  • “Love & Saffron is a story about the joys of being alive—the delight found in discovery, the comfort of a good meal, and most of all, the richness of true friendship. I read Love & Saffron in one delicious afternoon. It’s the kind of story you get lost in, one that breaks you open, fills your heart, and reminds you of what is important in life.”

    — Louise Miller, author of The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living

  • “I loved this spare, suspenseful, and achingly beautiful novel about an unexpected friendship between two women in the mid-1960s. Composed entirely of letters, their exchange starts with the gift of a recipe and then very quickly builds toward an eye-opening and life-changing questioning of everything.”

    — Phyllis Grant, author of Everything Is Under Control: A Memoir with Recipes.

  • “[A]n unutterably delightful epistolary novel … In this sweet, slender novel, Fay uses vibrant food descriptions to connect her two main characters and to assist them in coping with the dire news of an alarming era … Perfect for those burned out by current news cycles, Love & Saffron is a gentle escape to the past, and also a reminder both that others have survived ‘unprecedented times,’ and that deep connections can be made even when people are physically separated.”

    — Shelf Awareness

  • “Love & Saffron is an elixir for our times. It speaks to the power of food to communicate friendship and stoke a curiosity about worlds unlike our own.”

    — Naomi Hirahara, author of Clark and Division