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.
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