Acclaimed novelist Charlotte Wood also writes a popular foodie-type blog about her life in the kitchen and the home, and about the trials and tribulations of cooking for oneself and for one’s family.

Imagine reading a cookbook as a beautiful collection of short stories. Imagine each recipe having a start, a middle, and an end. Each character within the story proving to be full of trepidation or courage or with a fallible sense of honour. This is what Ms Wood’s writing can do: to the caramel slice, to the chicken meal, to the why-waste-your-breath moments to the delicate art of entertaining; she is able to spin a story.

There are recipes, thoughts on larder processions, tending to friends and remaining a person that gives the security of a shared meal. The book is generous and actually very sensible.

Christine Gordon is the Events Coordinator for Readings and is a committee member of