Francie delights in her cozy marriage. She and her husband, Harry,
are content as they approach their 25th wedding anniversary. They
are big-time foodies: Harry is a master gourmet cook and Francie is
his adoring fan. The two of them host neighborhood dinner parties,
family get-togethers and other calorie-driven fests. When Harry
wants to show his love for Francie, he cooks her luscious
tidbits.

Their life is shaken when Harry wins a digital scale in a raffle
--- and actually weighs himself. He and Francie are aghast to
discover that he is one hundred pounds overweight. At his doctor's
they hear terrifying news about his cholesterol, triglycerides and
his chances of developing diabetes and heart disease. When the
doctor discusses diet, all Harry can say is, "Is there any diet
where I could still have butter?"

Harry cheats on his low-fat, low-calorie diet. Francie, horrified
that her beloved husband will eat himself into an early grave,
offers to do all the cooking. She also talks him into joining a
university hospital diet study.

Luckily for Harry, the diet study program lets him have butter ---
and steaks, cheese, sour cream and so on. It's a low-carbohydrate
program, and Harry thrives on it. Fat begins melting off of him
faster than grease from frying bacon.

Francie is so happy. Or is she? Sure, her husband is getting
slimmer, but he's also gone all the time. He's constantly off at
work or at the gym or getting together with his diet group. At home
he's distracted. Francie doesn't want to believe it of her adorable
husband, but now that he's looking so tasty, is his love life
sizzling elsewhere?

I adored witty, down-to-earth Francie. I initially loved Harry, but
as I read further I felt that I didn't know him very well (no doubt
mirroring his wife's feelings). The author draws us in to the
family dynamics in a realistic, humorous way. However, while two of
the couple's children were truly people to me, the brief appearance
of two other less-realized children served no discernible purpose.
I also had some quibbles with the relationships toward the end of
the book. Two cardboardish characters, Krys and Tommy, appear to be
devices invented for the plot's convenience. I had a similar
reaction to a rather contrived cruise scene and felt the ending to
be just a bit too pat. These problems after the midway point of the
story weakened a wonderfully original premise and a great
voice.

However, despite my disappointments with the last half of the book,
COOKING FOR HARRY is a quick, fun story. I recommend it to anyone
looking for the reading equivalent of a light, fluffy no-carb
snack.