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Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl
I loved this book especially all the food descriptions. I had not thought of the perspective you mentioned. The themes in the book are very serious and food is such a part of their culture and heritage so perhaps that’s why the food is treated that way. I will definitely read more of her books.
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I liked the book and just as you say, the inclusion of the food descriptions I liked a lot. Now having finished, I still have to say I think it is a strange book. It goes so dark but has these cutesy elements such as so many of the characters in the family named after food: Raspberry, Pistachio, Blackcurrant, Little Piece of Meat (Noisette).
The flashbacks/war time sections worked better for me than the more recent time period sections. Luckily, most of the book was the former. I could buy the ruthlessness of Yannick and Laure but the subplot with Laure's brother coming in with the food cart bordered on the silly. Also, I could see Boise not making the connection when a child but I felt like she would've had to have been a dolt not to connect the dots about Paul at some point once he reentered her life. And while we find he was no angel either, Boise treats him so badly in the more current sections (well, in the flashback sections too); she is such an off-putting protagonist, just like her mother.
Still it's a very interesting, if unusually melded, story. Along with the food and cookery I enjoyed the descriptions of the little town and its citizens during the Vichy France period, and I thought the revelations of what was going on during that period were well done, especially that Mirabelle was having an affair with Tomas in exchange for drugs.