A perfect foodie novel with plenty of bite - ideal for fans of Beth
O'Leary, Joanna Cannon and Libby Page. Two women. One unusual
cookbook. And a friendship that will show them how to savour each
moment . . . Kate Parker is about to turn forty and her world has
fallen apart. Her seemingly rock-solid relationship is suddenly up
in the air, and she's been forced to move back in with her mother.
In need of some distraction, Kate (reluctantly) volunteers at her
local retirement home. Cecily Finn is a ninety-seven-year-old
resident of Lauderdale House for Exceptional Ladies. Her tongue is
as sharp as her mind but lately she's lost her spark, seemingly
resigned to the Imminent End. But then Cecily prescribes Kate a
self-help recipe book with a difference - and so begins an unlikely
friendship between two lonely and stubborn souls. Together, these
two very different women - one near the end of her life, one adrift
somewhere in the middle - will show each other that food is for
feasting, life is for living, and that it's always essential to ask
for more. Praise for The Woman Who Wanted More: 'Beautifully
written, full of insight and food. This is one of those I carried
round the house wanting to read it every spare second' - Katie
Fforde 'Wise, warm, witty and mouth-watering - this wonderful book
has it all' - Isabelle Broom, Woman & Home 'A fabulous read
about finding your way; about friendships and letting go. I adored
it' - Nina Pottell, Prima Magazine 'A mouth-watering treat of a
book that celebrates food and female friendship . . . An
irresistible novel!' - Kate Harrison
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Review This Product
My review
Mon, 22 Jul 2019 | Review
by: Breakaway R.
Rite of Passage that is original and heart-warming
This story is a rite of passage – Kate’s journey from needy, clutching girl to fulfilled and self-aware woman. It is an intriguing tale which begins mildly, almost ordinarily – girl goes on holiday with the partner she is about to move in with and is devastated by his refusal to commit. So far interesting but hardly remarkable. However, don't be fooled, this story builds symphonically, and despite its effortless, fluent style, grows in meaning and significance into a tale of profound insight.
Kate loves food and is an accomplished and imaginative cook, but this is not mere greed, what Kate loves is creating, not just a meal but an ambience, pleasure and comfort she longs to share. So food and its preparation become here a metaphor for everything in life she yearns for but does not have.
After her partner’s rejection, she returns to live with her mother. Kate is distressed and depressed, and her attempts to find another man result in failure. She feels her life is a shambles on every level. Even her unrewarding job, as a copywriter for a supermarket chain, is boring but stressful, as she lives under the constant threat of redundancy. Desperate, she volunteers at an old folks’ home. She gives cookery classes and there she meets Cecily, who has led a rich and varied life but is now an acerbic and bitter old woman. An unlikely friendship blossoms between them, in fits and starts, because Cecily is so tricky and Kate is reluctant to hear the truth.
Many years before Cecily had written an extraordinary cookbook – complete with menus, quotations and terse, witty comments for events in life – "Dinner for the mother-in-law", and later "son's fiancée" etc. Like Cecily herself, this book is quirky and erudite.
Cecily goads and taunts Kate into looking at her life anew, finally jolting her out of her dysfunctional relationships. Cecily is a very well-drawn character, at once barbed and vulnerable, subject to the capriciousness, spite and real wisdom of old age. She is based on the author's grandmother, and it is an elegant and loving portrait. Through Cecily and her trenchant comments, Kate realises that she can break the mould that has so constrained her and lead another life. Cecily gifts Kate the copyright of her out of print book, charging her to rewrite it, and Kate finds in doing so the fulfilment that has so eluded her.
I urge you to read this book. It is full of wry humour and real and valuable insight that is no less perceptive because it is gentle.
Charlotte Gower
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.
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