A Cup of Redemption: A Novel

By Carole Bumpus

Like the braiding of three strands of brioche, the lives of three women—Sophie Zabél Sullivan, Marcelle Pourrette Zabél, and Kate Barrington—become inextricably intertwined as each struggles to resolve issues from past wars that have profoundly impacted their lives.

Sophie believed her childhood nightmares were safely behind her once she married and moved to the U.S. from France —until she is called to her mother, Marcelle’s, deathbed to honor one final request: “Search for my father! Search for Pourrette!”
Born on the last day of World War I, Marcelle, whose life epitomizes the human cost of war, never knew her father, yet carried the Pourrette name, along with the shame of illegitimacy, as did her two oldest sons born during World War II.
Enlisting the expertise of a friend and family therapist, Sophie encourages Kate to join her in France to help find her grandfather scour the stain of illegitimacy from her family’s name.
Unbeknownst to Sophie, Kate’s 34-year-old illegitimate daughter, given up for adoption during the Vietnam War, has recently reappeared. Kate, struggling with her own shame and guilt, pushes aside her feelings to join Sophie in France.

Rising out of the collateral damage wrought by war, A Cup of Redemption is a touching story about love, loss, and the search for identity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: She Writes Press
• Release date: Oct 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781938314919

Carole Bumpus

Carole Bumpus began writing about food and travel when she stumbled upon the amazing stories of women and war in France. Her historical novel, A Cup of Redemption, was published in October 2014, and her unique companion cookbook, Recipes for Redemption: A Companion Cookbook to A Cup of Redemption, was released in August 2015. Book One of her Savoring the Olde Ways Series, Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table, was published August 2019. Her second of this series is due to be published August 2020. She has also had three short stories published in the Fault Zone anthologies: Words from the Edge, Stepping up to the Edge, and Over the Edge. A retired family therapist, Bumpus lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit her website at www.carolebumpus.com.