Food is a universal language. Every culture has their own example of a cookbook, passed down through generations, perpetuating the knowledge and the love mothers have for their children.
People say you shouldn't expect books you lend to even come back, but nobody said anything about them coming back with fewer pages.
If we had to explain the most basic, common-knowledge rules of private property every time we lent something, we'd never do it; so naturally, nobody expects something like this to happen, and everybody assumes we most likely operate from the same system of values. Well, turns out we don't.
Things like this happen; the sad part is that we can't really predict them. We'd suffer more being as paranoid as we should be to avoid these outcomes than by living and accepting a certain degree of misfortune.
By this, I'm not saying this woman should limit herself to accepting her fate and let go of her beloved, passed-down cookbook. I'm simply saying it's unfortunate, and mostly not her fault.
That said, there needs to be something done ASAP, because a cookbook is basically a family relic. Luckily, family relics can be reconstructed, and previously cut pages stuck back in can look quirky and give it more history, but for that to happen, those pages need to come back.
I'm assuming the other woman kept them for her and didn't throw them away. I really don't want any more surprises coming from her at this point. This story is sufficiently ridiculous as it is.
Is this the end of this cookbook's story? Or does it have more pages?