Book excerpt: Mangoes and Quince tells the story of Miranda, abandoned in Amsterdam by her husband, Anton, who disappeared into the South Seas. Marooned but restlessly inspired, Miranda expresses her passion through cooking. But as the restaurant she builds in Anton's ancestral home grows increasingly popular, her daughter, Diane, recedes into a world of longing for her lost father. Eventually Diana's curiosity will uncover his dangerous obsession. Mangoes and Quince is part mystery, part love story, part family drama-an intoxicating tale about a woman whose cooking seduces an entire city. Eleven luscious recipes accompany this unusual and sensuous debut.