The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs
*This book was gifted in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
Eliza Acton is a poet who’s never boiled an egg. But she’s about to break the mould of traditional cookbooks And change the course of cookery writing forever. England 1835. Eliza Acton is a poet who dreams of seeing her words in print. But when she takes a new manuscript to a publisher, she’s told that ‘poetry is not the business of a lady.’ Instead, she’s asked to write a cookery book.
Eliza is horrified but her financial situation leaves her no choice. Although she’s never cooked before, she is determined to learn and to discover, if she can, the poetry in recipe writing. To assist her, she hires seventeen-year-old Ann Kirby, the daughter of local paupers. Over the next ten years, Eliza and Ann change the course of cookery writing forever.
Eliza Acton visits London to try and get her poetry
published, but she is told that poetry no longer sells and to go away and write
a cookery book instead. Eliza can’t cook, but she’s going to teach herself and she’s
going to write a vibrant, poetic, and helpful companion for women in the
kitchen. When her father loses the families fortune, she and her mother are
forced to run a boarding house to make money. Eliza requests that her mother
let her be the cook for the guests, so that she can experiment with dishes to
help her write her cookery book. Although she agrees, her mother has other plans
for her daughter and would rather she were married to a wealthy man so that the
family can gain back favour. Eliza can’t run the kitchen alone, so she employs
Ann Kirby a seventeen-year-old girl to help her. Ann has lived in poverty her
whole life. She must look after her disabled alcoholic father and her mother,
who no longer recognises her and who the neighbours deem ‘mad’. When her mother
is taken away to an asylum, Ann believes she will be well looked after. Her Dad
is given a job where he can earn a small wage, leaving her free to pursue her
dream of training to become a cook. However, both Eliza and Ann have family
secrets, and heartache to contend with while they write their book.
Set in 1837, Eliza and Ann tell the story in alternate
narratives. The Language of Food is both heart-warming and heart-breaking in
equal measure. Annabel Abbs does not shy away from writing about the extremely
poverty stricken, illness and struggle. The descriptions in particular of Ann’s
poor mother were heart-wrenching. It was appalling the way in which those who
were deemed ‘mad’ were treated by those who were trusted to take care of them.
Eliza was prepared to put everything to one side and
sacrifice her own happiness and wealth, to bring her cookery book to fruition.
She didn’t let the fact that she was a lady of higher rank stop her joining in
with the actual cooking either! Eliza and Ann made such a great team, and it
was lovey to read how their friendship blossomed throughout the book, even
though their backgrounds were so different. The descriptions of food were so
mouth-wateringly good, that I spent most of my time reading this book with a
rumbling stomach! I definitely think that Eliza would approve of the poetic way
in which Annabel Abbs writes about food! I could clearly imagine the
characters, the kitchen, and the culinary delights. It is such a lovely touch
to have some of Eliza’s real recipes at the back of the book too.
Eliza and Ann were real people. I had heard of Eliza Acton’s name before, but I certainly wasn’t familiar with her story. What a remarkable woman she was. Little is known of Ann, so the author has had to use artistic license. However, Ann’s impoverished background represents many of those who were poverty stricken at the time, so her story is very real. I absolutely loved this book, and I know I will be recommending it to others and re-reading it again in the future!
Thank you so much for having me on the tour and for the support! x
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