England 1835. Eliza Acton is a poet who dreams of seeing her words in print. But when she takes her new manuscript to a publisher, she’s told that ‘poetry is not the business of a lady’. Instead, they want her to write a cookery book. To assist her, she hires seventeen-year-old Ann Kirby, the impoverished daughter of a war-crippled father and a mother with dementia.
Over the course of ten years, Eliza and Ann develop an unusual friendship – one that crosses social classes and divides – and, together, they break the mould of traditional cookbooks and change the course of cookery writing forever.
I savoured this wonderful story - the descriptions of meals will have you salivating! A talented writer who brings the true story of a formidable young woman vividly to life.
— Olivia