THE MEASURE OF MY POWERS

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER. For fans of Eat Pray Love, Wild, and H is for Hawk, The Measure of My Powers is the story of one woman's search for self-love, experienced through food and travel.

On the surface, Jackie Kai Ellis's life was the one that she and every woman wanted. She was in her late twenties and married to a handsome man, she had a successful career as a designer, and she had a beautiful home. But instead of feeling fulfilled, happy, and loved, each morning she'd wake up dreading the day ahead, searching for a way out. Depression clouded every moment, the feelings of inadequacy that had begun in childhood now consumed her, and her marriage was slowly transforming into one between strangers--unfamiliar, childless, and empty. In the darkness, she could only find one source of light: the kitchen. It was the place where Jackie escaped, finding peace, comfort, and acceptance.

This is the story of one woman's journey to find herself. Armed with nothing but a love of food and the words of the 20th-century food writer M.F.K. Fisher, she travels from France to Italy, then the Congo, and back again. Along the way, she goes to pastry school in Paris, eats the most perfect apricots over the Tuscan hills, watches a family of gorillas grazing deep in the Congolese brush, has her heart broken one last time on a bridge in Lyon, and, ultimately, finds a path to life and joy.

Told with insight and intimacy, and radiating with warmth and humor, The Measure of My Powers is an inspiring memoir, and an unforgettable experience of the senses.

JACKIE KAI ELLIS is the founder of Vancouver's Beaucoup Bakery, the owner of The Paris Tours, and a travel and lifestyle writer. She lives in Vancouver and Paris.
After owning a thriving design firm, Jackie Kai Ellis closed it and traveled to Paris to pursue her love of pastry. She studied at Paris' École Gastronomique Bellouet Conseil, returning to Vancouver to open Beaucoup Bakery & Café in 2012.
Combining the comforting North American baking she grew up with, her Asian heritage and the delicate art of French pastry making, Beaucoup was an immediate success, being featured in Bon Appétit Magazine in 2016.
Jackie then took her love for design, food, travel and writing and began The Paris Tours, leading intimate groups to the best Parisian pâtisseries, mentioned in Vogue in 2017. She also wrote articles on travel, food and lifestyle for several print and online publications including her own, www.jackiekaiellis.com.
Most recently, Jackie turned her deep passion for inspiration, connection and self-discovery to author a memoir with Appetite Random House, called The Measure of My Powers.