Cooking is a passion of mine so when I ran across this book I knew I had found the February LWD Book Club selection. As you may have seen, I’ve declared 2024 “My Year of Julia Child“. “Miss Eliza’s English Kitchen” is the story of the first modern cookbook writer, well before Julia wrote her 2 volume cookbook set. I’m really looking forward to learning more about Miss Eliza. 
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Miss Eliza’s English Kitchen
by Annabel Abbs
Miss Eliza’s English Kitchen
Before Mrs. Beeton and well before Julia Child, there was Eliza Acton, who changed the course of cookery writing forever.
England, 1835. London is awash with thrilling new ingredients, from rare spices to exotic fruits. But no one knows how to use them. When Eliza Acton is told by her publisher to write a cookery book instead of the poetry she loves, she refuses—until her bankrupt father is forced to flee the country. As a woman, Eliza has few options. Although she’s never set foot in a kitchen, she begins collecting recipes and teaching herself to cook. Much to her surprise she discovers a talent – and a passion – for the culinary arts.
Eliza hires young, destitute Ann Kirby to assist her. As they cook together, Ann learns about poetry, love and ambition. The two develop a radical friendship, breaking the boundaries of class while creating new ways of writing recipes. But when Ann discovers a secret in Eliza’s past, and finds a voice of her own, their friendship starts to fray.
Based on the true story of the first modern cookery writer, Miss Eliza’s English Kitchen is a spellbinding novel about female friendship, the struggle for independence, and the transcendent pleasures and solace of food.
WHAT ARE YOU READING LATELY?
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Other LWD Book Club Selections:
What’s better than curling up with a good book and a delicious cup of tea? Join the Plum Deluxe Tea Club and always have delicious tea on hand for your reading time.
Just stopping by to say that I’m reading “Howl’s Moving Castle” by Dianna Whyn Jones (I may have spelling wrong there, so sorry about that if I do). Getting through it slowly, since I’m not reading a lot.
Hi, Tori! Thanks for stopping by.