A deep sense of satisfaction

It’s sometime in the 1970s when Marilyn’s mother dies and Marilyn finds her mother’s Betty Crocker cookbook, “spine cracking and mended, twice with Scotch tape.”

Marilyn, a character in the book Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, flips through the book, reading.

“Always cookies in the cookie jar! Is there a happier symbol of a friendly house?”

“If you care about pleasing a man—bake a pie. But make sure it’s a perfect pie.”

“Betty’s pickles! Aunt Alice’s peach conserve! Mary’s mint relish! Is there anything that gives you deeper satisfaction than a row of shining jars and glasses standing on your shelf?”

“Certainly her mother would have said no, no, no,” Marilyn thinks.