Hungry

I was lucky enough to get an advanced reading copy of Hungry from Hachette and was so pleased when it arrived almost the next day.

It was going to be my whole reading for a whole weekend and I was going to savour it to the full, taking bite-sized reads throughout the weekend, but that wasn’t to be as it was so delicious I had to gulp it down in a couple of ravenous sittings.

I will be updating this review when the completed copy comes out as there are several quotes I want to add to the review that made me bark with laughter, especially the one about working class and bohemians in North London.

I’ve always looked forward to Grace’s writings about food (well anything really) as her sense of humour and turn of phrase are so readable, wry, and very perceptive. This book is no different, looking at her and her family’s relationship with food and with each other from her start in metropolitan Carlisle with her normal wit and flowing prose.

The move from Carlisle to London and working in magazines was as hilarious as it was revealing, both of Grace and the industry, how important class, uncles, and other helping hands are to working in media/publishing in London were (and as we all know still are).

Yes it is humorous, yes it takes a fun look at food, but as the book goes on we share her more of her families developing relationships and what goes on with ageing.

The last scene had me in all out tears, this wasn’t really a surprise as they were welling at various points throughout the whole book but that very last scene was a full-on emotional wringer. A really brave book well worth a read.

Out on 29th of September 2020.