This Cake Is for the Party

“An exceptional story collection full of regret and celebration . . . Compelling, clever, and exceptionally crafted, This Cake really delivers.” —Lisa Foad, The Globe and Mail

Finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize

Shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize

Longlisted for the Frank O’Connor Short Story Award

Winner, CBC Bookie Award: Best New Writer of 2010

The Globe 100: Best Canadian Fiction

In these ten stories, linked frequently by the sharing of food, Sarah Selecky reaffirms the life of everyday situations with startling significance. For upmarket women's fiction readers that love stories which reflect the joys and pitfalls of marriage, fidelity, fertility, and relationship woes, this collection is a conversation starter. This Cake Is for the Party reminds us that the best parts of our lives are often the least flashy. Reminiscent of early Margaret Atwood, with echoes of Lisa Moore and Ali Smith, these absorbing stories are about love and longing, that touch us in a myriad of subtle and affecting ways.

“Ultra-lush and wise; wickedly wry. This cake is . . . delicious.” —Lisa Moore, award-winning author of Alligator

“If you want fresh, complex characters that are wry and self-deprecating, lost and found, sometimes shifty, and always very honest in the ways they fear the truth, then read Sarah Selecky. These stories are very good.” —David Bergen, award-winning author of The Time in Between

“Everything a story should be: smart, wise, achingly poignant, its tightly sprung pages enfolding lifetimes of experience.” —Rebecca Wigod, Vancouver Sun

“These stories are state of the art . . . Often they’re flat-out funny. They’re always artful and wonderful.” —Derek McCormack, author of The Show That Smells