29. The Kitchen Front

The Kitchen Front. Jennifer Ryan. 2021. 408 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: A glorious spring morning poured its golden splendor through the tall kitchen window as a whirlwind of boys raced in, shooting at each other in a reconstruction of Dunkirk. 

Premise/plot: Mrs. Audrey Landon, Lady Gwendoline Strickland, Miss Nell Brown, and Miss Zelda Dupont are the four contestants in a local cooking contest. The winner will earn a spot hosting the BBC program The Kitchen Front which focuses on how to cook making the best use of rations. The cooking contests will take place over three months--one contest day per month--an appetizer, main course, and dessert.

The novel is narrated by all four contestants. Audrey is a widow raising her sons; Lady Gwendoline is Audrey's sister trapped in a physically abusive marriage; Nell is an assistant to Lady Gwendoline's manor cook; Zelda Dupont is a professional chef, a Londoner (down on her luck) who is working in a factory. All have their own personal reasons for "needing" to win.

My thoughts: I liked this one. I wanted to love, love, love it. I didn't quite. But it was still an enjoyable enough read. It was predictable in a sweet way. There was drama in the first half, not so much in the second half. Everything did seem to resolve quickly and effortlessly--bit by bit. By the end, there was no conflict whatsoever left. Which I don't mind actually. I don't look for conflict-driven (drama-driven) storytelling. But the characterization wasn't strong enough perhaps to carry the weight alone...in my opinion.

Still, I love the war-time setting (on the home front), the celebration of friendship, and the focus on how food can bring us together.

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews