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Synopsis:
An elegant, razor-sharp debut about women’s ambitions and appetites—and the truth about having it all
Outside of a childhood nickname she can’t shake, Piglet’s rather pleased with how her life’s turned out. An up-and-coming cookbook editor at a London publishing house, she’s got lovely, loyal friends and a handsome fiancé, Kit, whose rarefied family she actually, most of the time, likes, despite their upper-class eccentricities. One of the many, many things Kit loves about Piglet is the delicious, unfathomably elaborate meals she’s always cooking.
But when Kit confesses a horrible betrayal two weeks before they’re set to be married, Piglet finds herself suddenly…hungry. The couple decides to move forward with the wedding as planned, but as it nears, and Piglet balances family expectations, pressure at work, and her quest to make the perfect cake, she finds herself increasingly unsettled, behaving in ways even she can’t explain. Torn between a life she’s always wanted and the ravenousness that comes with not getting what you know you deserve, Piglet is, by the day of her wedding, undone, but also ready to look beyond the lies we sometimes tell ourselves to get by.
A stylish, uncommonly clever novel about the things we want and the things we think we want, Piglet is both an examination of women’s sometimes complicated relationship with food and a celebration of the messes life sometimes makes for us.
Review:
I was excited to delve into Piglet, the debut novel by Lottie Hazell, because I don’t always judge a book by it’s cover, but if the cover is a painting of a huge cheeseburger, I will read the book every time. I did not know anything about the story before I started, and I was pleasantly surprised. The story is about Piglet, a woman who edits cookbooks, has moved to a great house with her finance, and is getting married to Kit in 90 days. Two weeks before the wedding, Kit reveals a secret that shatters all of the life that Piglet has carefully constructed, and with days to go before the huge wedding, she has to decide whether or not to go through with the marriage.
Hazell uses food, cooking and eating, as a metaphor throughout most of the novel. While Piglet makes a living with cookbooks, has a large arsenal of cooking tips and tricks, and makes delicious food for everyone to enjoy, food is also something that she can hide behind. Piglet’s life changes and she uses food to cope, food to mourn, and food to try to prove herself worthy of not only staying in the relationship, but as a means of value in herself. There are moments when I salivate at the dishes that she prepares, and I found myself stopping and getting snacks more than once while reading. The writing in these passages are expert level, and it is easy to see some culinary experience and skill behind Hazell’s writing.
I liked Piglet as a character, and even though some of Piglet’s decisions are not the right decision, they are the decision that makes sense in the world that Hazell has built. Kit comes from a family with money and Piglet comes from a working class family who sees marrying into Kit’s family as an great opportunity. I found Piglet’s family remarkably endearing, even though her father is not the most supportive. Piglet seems embarrassed by her upbringing and the family that raised her, and she uses food to bridge the gap between her upbringing and the family she is marrying into. Both of the families, from Kit’s rich upbringing, to Piglet’s more modest upbringing, are written like people that I want to know off of the page. I would genuinely grab a beer with Piglet’s dad and Darren, her sister’s partner.
People say that you should not judge a book by it’s cover, but if it has a picture of a food, the chances of it being worth reading are high. Piglet is a good story, and I get hungry just thinking about reading it again.
I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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