'Madeleines in Manhattan' is the story of Colette Rossant's journey from young housewife to successful professional, from the romantic early days of marriage to grandmotherhood
It is 1955, and Colette Rossant, newly married, has just arrived in America with her husband Jim. She is twenty-two, a Frenchwoman in New York, bemused by American customs and most importantly by the food: the limp sandwiches, the ubiquitous mayonnaise, the iceberg lettuce. But post-war New York is bristling with energy, and Colette and Jim discover a whole new world in Greenwich Village: theatre and avant-garde cinema, farmers' markets and Jewish delis. Colette slowly falls in love with her adopted country, relishing the brisket sandwiches at Katz's, the exquisite dim sum in Chinatown and the Italian pastries in Mulberry Street.
When Jim and Colette buy a house downtown on Sullivan Street, Colette finds a place she can truly call home. Sullivan Street in the late sixties is still deeply Italian, with stern mamas and their Mafioso boys and cafes that double up at night as gambling dens. While Jim beautifully restores their run-down townhouse, Colette begins to charm her suspicious neighbours. It is in this house that Jim and Colette raise their four children and where Colette progresses from being a passionate cook to an acclaimed food writer.
