Justice is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG will appeal to readers who love food memoirs and are also very interested in the law. Karst covers both in great detail, while also depicting the life and accomplishments of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in this story about a single dinner. In 2005, Karst’s father invited his colleague, Justice Ginsburg, to speak at UCLA’s law school. He asked his daughter if she’d like to prepare the meal, and Karst – an attorney and amateur chef – eagerly agreed. She then spent nine months planning a four-course meal for Justice Ginsburg and her husband.
Fair warning, if you’re mostly just interested in Ginsburg, this book may not work for you. Karst gets pretty “in the weeds” when it comes to the intricacies of planning this meal. There were a few points where it felt obsessive to me, but I liked the way the author herself seems to recognize when she’s going overboard a bit (for example, a hunt for the perfect 8 black plates). At times I thought, no way could I spend this amount of time planning a meal, but then I thought about spending a year planning a wedding, which really isn’t that different. It’s months of effort for a single day, and maybe later a lot of those small details won’t matter, but they certainly seem to at the time. I was pretty interested in Karst’s food and wine choices, as well as some unique elements of the meal, like whether they would need to feed the federal marshals that accompany Ginsburg.
I really liked the way Karst balanced biographical details about Ginsburg – she describes her upbringing, personal life, school and career – with her unique opportunity to get to know Ginsburg and her husband personally. There’s probably no shortage of biographical resources about Ginsburg, but Karst nicely balances historical information about Ginsburg and the circumstances of meeting her. I enjoyed the way Karst “fangirls” over Ginsburg, dropping her name to friends and vendors, as she can’t believe her amazing fortune at being able to cook dinner for someone she admires so much. I also appreciated her sense of humor and humility, like when she agonizes over saying something she thinks is foolish to Ginsburg or her husband.
I could relate to the way Karst talks about how much she cares about the law, yet she knows she doesn’t love her career the way her father and Ginsburg do. And I appreciated how this experience of planning a dinner might lead to her discovering something she truly loves. I also enjoyed the setting of the book, as Karst and her wife travel from their Northern California home to Los Angeles – but those details won’t mean as much if you don’t love California as I do.
At times, the pacing is uneven and many readers will want more of some things and a lot less of other things. It’s also not an action-packed read, but if you’re looking for something on the more relaxing side, something you can pick up and put down as you need to, this will work for you.
It’s tragic, of course, reading this today, knowing that Ginsburg died right before Trump left office and that some of her important work is being undone by the current Court. But this book gave me an even greater appreciation for Ginsburg, not just as a lawyer, a judge, and a civil rights activist, but as a person as well. A highly enjoyable read all the way around.
Note: I received an advanced review copy of this book from Spark Point Studio and publisher She Writes Press. This book was published April 4, 2023. Karst is also the author of the Sally Solari mystery series.
