
Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake
by Alexis Hall

“Oh God. Oh help. He was doing kindness at her. Rosaline couldn’t cope with people doing kindness at her. It made her feel like she’d shoplifted a lipstick. Except the lipstick was made of time and emotional energy.” (p. 54)
“”And that’s what life is all about at the end of the day. Doing something you’re okay with that pays enough that you can take care of the people you want to take care of.”
It was a very… a very un-Palmer way to think about it. “My parents would say that life was about making the most of your talents and finding a career that challenges you and makes a difference.”
“Well, baking is a talent” Harry gave half a smile and half a shrug. “And I reckon you’ve got enough challenges already. And if what you do makes you happy and makes other people happy, that should be enough of a difference for anybody.”
She wished it was that simple.” (p. 225)
“”Your father and I want you to do what makes you happy, you know that.”
Rosaline took a breath so deep it made her lungs ache. “And what if I said I was happy right now?”
“Then you’d be lying. To me, your father, and yourself.”
“Why?” asked Rosaline ill-advisedly. “Why is it so unimaginable that I could be happy raising my daughter and baking my cakes and living in my tiny house and working my ordinary job in a shop that sells pencils?”
“Because, darling, you’re better than that.”” (p. 249)
“”I think for me, it’s always been that old cliche about how I’d rather regret some of the things I’ve done, than all the things I’ve never dared to do.”” (p.262)
“It didn’t stop her from pretending, though. Imagining for a moment she could have a life like Harry’s. Where your world was whatever you made of it and whoever let into it and you were allowed to be happy with that.” (p. 307)
“”The way I see it, if they’re your family, either they’ll love you no matter what, or fuck ‘em.”
“Yeah, they don’t work like that. They’re more, We’re here for you no matter what you choose, as long as you choose what we want you to. It’s sort of like the Model T Ford of emotional support.”” (p. 328)
“”It’s not selfish to work on your problems. It’s selfish not to.”” (p. 332-333)
“She’d spent nearly the whole competition worrying about what other people thought and felt, and he’s spent it going after things he wanted. It was an arsehole way to live your life, but it was definitely a better way to win a baking competition.” (p. 347)
“Because she’d finally worked out that life wasn’t the blind bake. The aim wasn’t to follow someone else’s vague instructions in the hope you’d produce something they’d approve of to a set of standards they hadn’t told you.
It was your ex-girlfriend coming through for you when nobody else did.
It was yelling at your kid’s teacher for being casually biphobic.
It was having the same goddamn argument about brushing your teeth every night for four years.
It was maybe meeting someone who was like nothing you thought you were looking for.
It was winning a TV baking competition. Or not winning it. Or getting chased by a goat you thought was a bull.
It didn’t matter what it was. It just mattered that it was yours.” (p. 387)
“And that was the thing about journeys, wasn’t it? They weren’t about where you started or where you ended. They were about who came with you.” (p. 392)