Tembi Locke is the author of the New York Times bestseller (and Reese Witherspoon pick), FROM SCRATCH, an absolutely stunning memoir chronicling the time she spent piecing together her life after her husband’s death. Set in the beautiful Sicilian countryside, she discovers the healing powers of food, family, and grace in her darkest hours.
Off the Shelf was able to ask Tembi a few questions about her experiences, writing process, and a few of her favorite books.
What was your inspiration for turning your story into a memoir?
I put up various book-related videos every Friday!// SUPPORT //Get some books from Bookshop.org and support independent shops in the UShttps://bookshop.org/s. Download From Scratch By: Tembi Locke for Free - Download Movies, TV Shows, Series, Ebooks, Games, Music, Tutorial, Software, and get subtitle, samples, screenshots. From Scratch @ Home - Tembi Locke: Official Website A blog by actor and author Tembi Locke in which she talks about the launch of From Scratch @ Home, a live online course. From Scratch chronicles three summers Tembi spends in Sicily with her daughter, Zoela, as she begins to piece together a life without her husband in his tiny hometown hamlet of farmers. Where once Tembi was estranged from Saro's family, now she finds solace and nourishment-literally and spiritually-at her mother-in-law's table. Grab a seat, There's a Place for Everyone. CONVERSATIONS WITH TEMBI LOCKE AVAILABLE NOW FROM SCRATCH A Memoir of Love, Sicily and Finding Home By Tembi Locke AVAILABLE NOW! “a delicious idea. Stunning and moving” “beautifully poignant” “riveting and uplifting. Amazing gift to the world” Recipes and Inspiration In Your Inbox.
This story had been swelling in my heart for years. Some of it even before Saro passed. I understood that there were aspects of our love story that were rare and beautiful. However, three years after his passing I was seated in Sicily with Zoela and across from us was Nonna. We were at the dinner table at the end of what had been like the perfect summer day. And I had a thought: How did we get here, especially given where we started AND given that the only person connecting us is gone? That question felt like the makings of a book. Yet it was another two years, actually the fifth anniversary of his passing, before I felt ready to write it. I needed to build up my bravery to tell the story.
How longdid it take you to write?
I had beenworking on parts of From Scratch for years without really knowing that what Iwas writing would become a book. Once I sat down with the intention ofcompleting a book-length memoir, I wrote my first draft in eight months. Ispent the next four months rewriting, restructuring, revising and editing thatunwieldy draft into the book it is today.
Was there anything surprising you learned —about yourself, about art, about emotion— while writing the book?
Writing amemoir is about being with yourself, your past, your emotions (expressedand unexpressed). You embark on a deep dive of exploration and constantexcavation. It is about turning over the stones of the past and asking“why?” From that point of view, I was surprised by how much self careit required for me to get across the finish line. From the point of view ofcraft, I was surprised by the amount of research a memoir requires. Memory istricky. So, for me, research was essential.
What was your favorite part about writing it?
Myfavorite part of writing From Scratch was reliving the joyous tidal wave of newlove that I experienced in my first days in Florence. Rereading my collegejournals as well as letters from the era was transformational. I wasreintroduced to my younger self. For the first time, I saw a young woman who,even through her confusion and insecurity, had a great willingness tofollow her heart.
If there a memory or moment you’re most fond of, or you feel is the most powerful, that you knew you absolutely had to include?
The memoryof the night Saro stood in the rain was something that I knew I had to include.But it wasn’t until I was writing the book that I realized we had asymbolically parallel experience on our last day together. The realization thatthose two experiences were connected as kind of bookends in our relationshipwas poetic. Discovering that connection eventually made me understand the bookand my life in a whole new way.
From Scratch Novel
What are some of your favorite books?
I alwaysreturn to the works of Louise Erdrich, Isabel Allende, and Toni Morrison. Mysister, Attica Locke’s, book, Heaven My Home, holds a special place in my heartbecause of its East Texas setting and lost history. Wild and The Historyof Love inspired me to write From Scratch. But across the decades, the writer Ikeep coming back to is James Baldwin. He’s like an old friend who keeps meetingme at different stages of life and always has new wisdom to impart.
If you could choose one lesson ormessage for readers to take away from your book, what would it be?
If I had to choose only one (which is hard), Iwould say to activate a brave heart in how we love and how we connect.
From Scratch Tembi Locke Epub
What’syour favorite place in Sicily that our readers should mark on their literarytravel list?
Tembi Locke Book
Palermofor a unique city experience and the Aeolian Islands for absolute adventure andthe gorgeous sea.
From Scratch By Tembi Locke
What is your favorite recipe in thebook?
That’s like asking me to pick a favorite friend. Ilove them all. However, I will say the one you can find most often in my houseis the classic Sicilian tomato sauce. When in doubt, a plate of pasta will doyou good.