The Kitchen Front

Jennifer Ryan's The Kitchen Front was a bit of "light" World War II reading. Light WWII reading? Yes. The Kitchen Front is about a cooking competition held by the BBC is England. The chosen winner will co-host a radio broadcast called "The Kitchen Front" where tips are given about how to provide meals to family using what's available through rationing and via other means (hunting, bartering, foraging, and, yes, picking up items on the black market).

Four women are chosen by the current male radio host to participate in the competition. Four very different women. Audrey is the widow with 3 children, struggling to keep the roof over their heads. She's become a home baker to earn money to support her family. Lady Gwendoline is Audrey's upper class sister who lords her position and wealth over everyone, most especially Audrey. She's a home economist, to do her part for the war effort, going around instructing women on how to create meals keeping in mind the rations and what is currently available. Nell, under the direction of Mrs. Quince, is a kitchen maid in Lady Gwendoline's home. Mrs. Quince is known to be one of the best cooks in the county and possibly all of England. Mrs. Quince is getting older and Nell is the one doing the cooking. Nell was way too shy to compete on her own. Finally, there was Zelda. Zelda had been a chef at a fancy London hotel prior to the war. At the time of the competition, she's working as a chef at a factory as her part of war service. She hopes that by winning the competition, she will be viewed as head chef material and will be able to go back to London and get a position as a head chef.

The competition has three rounds: starter, main and dessert. Each women interpreted the challenge of cooking within the guidelines of the rations differently. Dishes went from simply throwing together ingredients to creating simple, delicious food from what was available, to trying to create elegant meals. I enjoyed the food descriptions and how each contestant decided what she would make for each found.

A few other observations. It was interesting to read this novel after reading The Secret History of Home Economics. Had I read this book first, I don't think I would have given as much thought to Gwendoline's role as a home economist. It reinforced things I'd thought about while reading the Secret History. I also made frequent connections to both The Cook Book Club and Miss Eliza's English Kitchen. 

My other observation came from reading about a war in Europe while there is presently a war raging in Europe (limited to Ukraine, for now). In one scene, Zelda teaches Audrey's sons to identify airplanes flying overhead so they know whether to be afraid or not. The very next night, on television, I saw a man being interviewed in Kyiv who was talking about things that had changed since the war first began. He talked about how now, a month into the war, he and his children are able to identify what is flying overhead by both sight and by sound, so they know whether they need to be really frightened or simply unsettled. Another war connection was the POW character, Paolo, who says he'd rather be a POW in a place where he's treated kindly than a soldier. He was meant to be working in his family's restaurant, not shooting people. I've  heard similar things about Russia soldiers who have surrendered in Ukraine. How are there so many similarities between then and now? Hasn't society learned anything? Or... or... won't get into what I think about the situation right here, right now.

Learning more about rationing was interesting as were reading some of the cooking tips. Recipes gave me insight into what the people were dealing with during those times. I wish the story had been deeper. The characters themselves were pretty one-dimensional, conflicts were solved way too quickly and easily. I think this was supposed to be a novel about the strength and resilience of women and the power of friendship. I don't think it did the best job in that area. I was very engaged, though, by the writing about the food. While the descriptions of the characters fell flat, the food descriptions were rich, allowing me to imagine scents and tastes while I read. That alone made this a worthwhile read for me.
 

One Italian Summer

It wasn't until I was partway into One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle that I realized that this is the third book in a row that I'm reading that has to do with women (all younger than I) coming to terms with the death of her mother. On the week leading up to the anniversary of my mother's death. What are the chances?

One Italian Summer's main character, Katy, has just lost her mother. Like the two previous books I've read, Katy is trying to come to terms with her life, with her marriage, with her career. She  decides that taking the mother/daughter trip to Italy that she and her mother had planned to take together, that her mother had meticulously planned, might give her the distance from her life to figure out what should come next.

By now you know that I'm a sucker for books that take place in Italy. I'm still trying to recapture what I've lost by having to cancel our trip to Italy in October 2020. Of all the books I've read recently that take place in Italy, this gave me the truest flavor for what it's like to be an American visiting Italy. Katy's mother, Carol, had spent a summer in Positano as a young woman, and she wanted to share that with her daughter. Off Katy trots to Positano, alone. The descriptions of the scenery, of the food, of the people Katy comes in contact with, brought back memories of my time on the Amalfi Coast. (The only thing that disturbed me was that Katy chose to relax on the beach in Capri rather than explore the island - and drink limoncello!)

In some ways, this reminded me of Faye, Faraway as 30-year old Katy gets to know 30-year old Carol. I won't tell you any more about that.

Katy has so many questions for her mother which brought to mind things about my mother that I wish I knew more about. At least by the end of the novel, Katy is able to get some answers. This isn't exactly a romance novel, but it sort of is. Romance isn't usually my thing. However, I really enjoyed this novel. Now I want to go back to Positano!
 

The Light of Luna Park

I had vague recollections of reading about a "freak show" in Coney Island before a childhood friend of mine recommended Addison Armstrong's The Light of Luna Park. She strongly recommended it so I requested it from the library and waited.

In the early 1900's, a premature baby was given virtually no chance of life by doctors and hospitals. Yet a "doctor" in Coney Island, as part of a "freak show," created a place where premature infants could be placed in incubators and put on a specialized feeding routine, increasing the odds of survival tremendously. The admission fees into seeing the baby are what paid for the care of the babies. Interestingly enough, the exhibit was only open during the summer months that Luna Park was open, thereby limiting this chance of life for babies born in the summer months.

The novel has two different storylines in two different timelines. The first story takes place in 1926. It's the story of young Nurse Anderson who risks her professional life to basically kidnap a premature infant who is basically given to die in order to save the baby's life by bringing the baby to a sideshow in Luna Park that she read about in the paper. She'd seen one too many babies not given a chance at life. Once she read about the incubators in Coney Island, she knew that this babies did have a chance. And her aim was to save at least this one.

The second story is Stella's story. This one takes place in 1950. Stella has just quit from her job as untrained special education teacher in Poughkeepsie, NY. She's recently married. Her mother has just died. She's floundering. She decides that rather than use a hired person to go through her mother's apartment in Manhattan that she will do it herself. Discoveries of some items in her mother's box of mementos makes her question everything about her life. Stella goes in search of answers.

The history in both timelines was of interest to me. Who or what should determine if a baby should live or die, or if a disabled child should be provided with an education? I felt a personal connection to both of these aspects of the story.

I'd highly recommend this book. 

 

Crying in H Mart

Crying in H Mart popped up on my radar about the time it was published, but it never made it on to my "to be read" list. Not until my daughter read it and highly recommended it. She told me that I'd love it. And that it would make me cry.

Michelle Zauner is a Korean/American young woman who writes about the relationship she has had with her mother and with Korea as she remembers her mother and her mother's recent death. After her mother is diagnosed with cancer, the author moves back home to help with her mother's care. She was 25 at the time, trying to figure out her life.

At times, the story is gut-wrenching. I mean, losing your mother is difficult at any age. And it can be difficult to read about.

A big part of the relationship between the author and her mother had to do with food. Specifically ethnic Korean food. Which I always find so interesting since my relationship with my mother had almost nothing to do with food.

Interesting personal note about H-Mart. H-Mart is an American grocery store that sells Asian ingredients and food products. I miss living near an H-Mart even though I never stepped foot into the one that was just a few miles from my house. I  had a large Asian SUPER store just a few miles further away and smaller Asian markets very close to both home and work. H-Mart took over the space that previously had been my regular supermarket... and yet I never made it inside. Now a regret.

I hope Michelle Zauner is doing well now. She will never not miss her mother. Especially not as she is walking through H Mart.

 

Little Fires Everywhere

 

Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere was the perfect type of story for an audio book. It was engaging in just the way I need an audio book to be.

Little Fires Everywhere starts with several fires being set at the Richardon's large family home in Shaker Heights, Ohio as the Richardson parents and the Richardson's oldest children watch their home burn to the ground. All suspect that the youngest child, Izzie, is the one who set the fires. Intriguing, right? Makes you wonder right off the bat why they all seem so certain that their youngest daughter was the arsonist... or why Izzie might want to burn down the house.

I did a little research about Shaker Heights, Ohio, to discover if it really is as orderly as it was portrayed in the novel. Shaker Heights in a nearby suburb of Cleveland, one of the first true suburbs in the United States, and it was developed as a planned community. In the 80s, integration was encouraged - and planned. To this day, it has strict building codes.

Mrs. Richardson is a perfect fit for Shaker Heights, where she grew up. She's a real rules player. Most things in her life seem pretty black or white with very few shades of gray. She owns rental property in a less affluent part of town from where the family lives and tries to rent it to people who she feels need some sort of assistance. New tenants, Mia Warren, and her daughter, Pearl, move in. Mia is an artist and she and Pearl have been on the move all of Pearl's life. Mia is as opposite from a rules player as you can possibly be. 

All the Richardson kids are drawn to either Mia or Pearl and the relationships are crossed and essentially change the dynamics between the members of the Richardson family. When a custody battle between Mrs. Richardson's oldest friend and a co-worker of Mia ensues, lines are drawn. Not just within the two parties involved and the Richardsons and Mia Warren but throughout the whole town.

I enjoyed listening to the book and might look for a way to watch the series on Hulu which I do not currently subscribe to.

Shuggie Bain

I won't lie. Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart's debut novel, was incredibly raw and difficult to get through. The characters weren't particularly likeable, yet my heart ached for all them.

The story which takes place in 1980 Glasgow, Scotland is Shuggie, a young boy who is part of a working class family. At first Shuggie and his parents, Shug and Agnes, live with Agnes' parents in what sounds like a lower middle class apartment building. Shug moves the family away, out to the sticks, to a mining village where the mine has been closed for awhile and most of the miners are on the dole.

How do these people whose lives have taken a turn for the worse survive? Agnes finds solace in the bottle as do many of her neighbors. Drugs are rampant. Shuggie's older siblings find ways to leave the house as soon as they are old enough while Shuggie remains with Agnes, taking on the role of her keeper.  What an incredibly rough life. I felt like I held very little hope for the characters and wondered how they could have felt any hope for themselves.

Shuggie Bain reminded me of a cross between The Crazyladies of Pearl Street and The Glass Castle, two very other difficult books to read. I'm on the fence about whether I would recognize this one or not. If raw and rough are what you're in the mood for, this might be the perfect book.

 

The Keeper of Lost Things

 

I had no preconceptions about Ruth Hogan's The Keeper of Lost Things. I'm not sure if that's why I enjoyed it as much as I did.

The novel tells two distinct stories and of course I was anxious to find out how the two stories would eventually come together. I mean, they'd have to come together at some point, right? 

Anthony Peardew is a keeper of lost things. His losing the first thing, an important thing, a medallion that his fiancee gave him to remember her by, on the day that she died wracked him forever. His approach to moving forward in life was to collect lost objects and writing short stories about them. As he nears the end of his life, though, he worries that he never made an effort to try to get the lost things back to the people who lost them. That effort involves Laura, his assistant. It includes Sunshine, his neighbor. And eventually involves his gardener, Freddie. 

The parallel story is about Boomer, a publisher, and his assistant Eunice. A quirky guy with an infatuated assistant and an interesting family.

I don't want to say anymore and risk spoiling the book for anyone who chooses to read it. But it was a clever story, enjoyable to read, and I would recommend it.

Where the Forest Meets the Stars

Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah is the March selection for Books & Beer Club. Genre... fantasy. What's interesting is that when it wasn't available in the libraries I have access to and I went to check the price of the book on Amazon, I discovered, much to my dismay, that I'd purchased the kindle version in 2019. I hadn't read it yet. Maybe it was an Amazon Prime (free) First Read selection?

The story of Where the Forest Meets the Stars was pretty predictable. But I read on to discover where exactly Ursa came from. The basic story is that Joanna, recovering from breast cancer and the loss of her mother, is spending the summer pretty isolated doing graduate research work in rural southern Illinois. She's trying to bring herself back to the world, but in a pretty solitary fashion. At first, her only outside contact is Egg Man at the end of her road from whom she buys her eggs and shopkeepers. She is in contact with her best friend/roommate back at the University who makes fun of her for being in redneck area.

Her solitude is broken when a girl shows up on the property where Jo is living. The girl calls herself Ursa and says she's come down from the stars to visit Earth and that she won't be able to return to the stars until she witnesses five miracles. Jo makes some attempts to figure out where Ursa has come from and to help the girl. Each time the authorities are involved, Ursa runs off. Jo's questions about where she's come from and why she's running grow larger and larger.

Eventually, Egg Man, Gabe, Jo's nearby neighbor, becomes involved in the mystery that he and Jo continue to try to solve. Gabe is almost as big a mystery to Jo as Ursa is.

As the story goes, the threesome form connections but get few answers. Their individual futures are in question as Jo prepares to return to the University for the academic year. Will they get the answers they need before the summer is over?

Of course I'm not going to tell you that. That would be spoiling it. The book was a pleasant read, but after much thought, I revised my 4-star rating to a 3-star rating on Goodreads. There were too things, large and small, in the book that I didn't feel were dealt with properly. And a couple of things that just made no sense.

Would I recommend it? Probably not. But I anxious to discuss this with the book club in a few weeks. This is so, so very different from the types of books that this book group typically reads. I can almost predict the reactions of several members of the club. Should be fun!