Firstly, I love books about transformation, and secondly, Elizabeth becoming a daytime
TV cook after losing her job as a research scientist evokes
a fond memory of a TV cookery programme
featured in one my own novels.
Elizabeth not only transforms the culinary prowess of her under-achieving housewives but also transforms them – at atomic level – so they can act in more empowered ways in all areas of their lives.
I found this message touching, thinking of my mother’s generation when many women were often stuck in the home and how different things are now.
Fun fact: chemistry was a subject the author had to research before starting. I personally find these forays into other
disciplines for research purposes absorbing, illuminating, and wonderful for one’s
brain cells.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • Meet Elizabeth Zott: a “formidable, unapologetic and inspiring” (PARADE) scientist in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show in this novel that is “irresistible, satisfying and full of fuel. It reminds you that change takes time and always requires heat” (The New York Times Book Review).
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Oprah Daily, Newsweek, GoodReads
"A unique heroine ... you'll find yourself wishing she wasn’t fictional." —Seattle Times…
Every so often, I fancy a good thriller with
a surprise ending, and this certainly fitted the bill. Intrigued by the concept
of an agoraphobic psychologist, I read the book at two sittings, the second one
far into the night.
I loved it because the intelligence in the prose elevated
it from its genre—such as the scene when Anna, the psychologist, racks her
brain to identify which Chopin nocturne is playing while she’s on hold, when
seeking information about a neighbour she suspects of killing his wife!
Soon to be a major motion picture produced by 20th Century Fox, starring Amy Adams, Gary Oldman and Julianne Moore
'Astounding. Thrilling. Amazing' Gillian Flynn
'One of those rare books that really is unputdownable' Stephen King
'Twisted to the power of max' Val McDermid
'A dark, twisty confection' Ruth Ware
What did she see?
It's been ten long months since Anna Fox last left her home. Ten months during which she has haunted the rooms of her old New York house like a ghost, lost in her memories, too…
I chose this book of short stories because I loved
Caldwell's winning entry for the 2021 British National Story Award: "All the
People Were Mean and Bad" included in this book.
This story focuses on an encounter between
the mother and an attentive man in the next seat who fetches milk for the hungry
child. We learn she's an architect, lonely and yearning to return to her
profession, dreading becoming pregnant again, as her husband is often away.
As
I read this book on a flight to Crete, I observed a baby being nursed by an
extended family, each taking turns to amuse the little one. And I thought, if
only all parents had such loving support to help them cope.
*Includes the winner of the 2021 BBC National Short Story Award*
'Smart, nuanced and sometimes heart-stopping.' Anne Enright 'Outstanding.' Guardian 'Eleven perfect stories.' Irish Independent 'Glorious.' The Times 'My FAVE collection ever.' Pandora Sykes
In eleven stories, Intimacies exquisitely charts the steps and missteps of young women trying to find their place in the world. From a Belfast student ordering illegal drugs online to end an unwanted pregnancy to a young mother's brush with mortality, and from a Christmas Eve walking the city centre streets when everything seems possible, to a night flight from Canada which could change a life…
You don't have to be a New Age flower child to enjoy Pandora's correspondence with a supernatural penfriend. She's a newly single lady of a certain age and romance is still very much on the agenda. But who to choose? And can her supernatural buddy help her satisfy the longings of both her heart and soul?
