Good Taste

September 15, 2023
A 1930s author sets out to discover her country, her history, and her future. Each time Stella Douglas describes what she does for a living, she takes a moment to have a bite-sized existential crisis. Stella is a food writer who has most recently been tasked with writing a history of British food. This undertaking strikes her either as overwhelmingly large--the economic depression, surfeit of imported goods, nearby rise of fascism, poor reputation of British cuisine and boosting of national morale must all be taken into account--or embarrassingly frivolous. "'I'm realizing that I need to adjust my expectations, to accept that vol-au-vents and fashions in table napkins is as stimulating as my career is going to get," she laments. It has been a year since Stella lost her mother and returned to Yorkshire to care for her grieving father. Her newest book provides a welcome excuse to tour various British hamlets in search of traditional fare and colorful anecdotes. In Grasmere she attempts to reverse-engineer a famous gingerbread recipe, theorizing that the biscuit contains oats, candied ginger peel, and golden syrup, "doggedness and astringency." In her excavation of culinary history, Stella is looking to uncover not only what makes a dish British but also what it means to be British. If the ginger was imported, she worries it might not belong in her book at all. Though Stella navigates loss, romance, and friendship, her most intricately depicted relationship is with her work. Stella's first book sold few copies, and she begins to think her historical text might be a bestseller if she tweaks some of the history. As she researches and writes, she struggles with what kind of book this will be and what kind of writer, and person, she will become as a result. Stella's recurrent concerns grow a bit thin with wear. Still, the sleepy plot has a gentle, provincial charm. Buttery passages are slathered with food imagery, and Scott conjures markets, pantries, and laden tables you won't want to leave. A sweet treat of a book.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 15, 2023
It's 1932, and England is suffering through the Great Depression. Stella Douglas' publisher wants her to remind people of how great England is by writing a food history of the nation. Stella corresponds with people all over the country to find recipes that are quintessentially English. Seeing that she is mostly getting recipes for oatcakes and potatoes, she decides to travel the countryside in hopes of finding the perfect English recipe. She needs the escape; her best friend, Michael, is getting married, and her father has moved into her residence. She is desperately seeking adventure, which arrives in the form of Freddie, who influences Stella in more ways than one. The book is lighthearted and charming, and Scott (The Poppy Wife, 2019) keeps the reader engaged while exploring many underlying themes. Stella struggles with losing a parent, realizing her feelings for a friend are much stronger, and learning that the truth is what is right, even when falsities are more appealing. This is an easygoing historical novel about a young woman coming into her own.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2023

Scott (The Poppy Wife) delivers a witty and engaging novel. When struggling Yorkshire author Stella Douglas is commissioned in 1932 to write her second book, How the English Eat, she journeys across the countryside to discover the roots of English cooking. Her first book, a biography of a housekeeper and cookery expert, received good reviews but didn't sell well, so Stella is determined to make her new work more accessible and profitable. When her car breaks down in Gloucestershire, she meets the charming and handsome Freddie Langham, whose magnetism intrigues her. Since Stella's complicated feelings for her best friend Michael have been squelched by his engagement, Stella sees no reason why she shouldn't continue seeing Freddie. But as Freddie's influence over Stella's writing grows, she begins to question whether the laissez-faire approach to research he encourages is what she wants. With Michael engrossed in his whirlwind relationship, Stella faces important decisions about not only her career but also her personal life. VERDICT Scott takes readers on a journey of professional and personal discovery, making the novel an excellent pick for those who enjoy explorations of women's independence.--Lucinda Ward

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