KITCHENS OF THE GREAT MIDWEST, A Novel
by J. Ryan Stradal
I didn’t know what to expect from this novel when I started reading it. But a good friend recommended it and she and I seem to have similar tastes in books. Would it be a novel that somehow incorporated recipes? A tour of kitchens in Minnesota and Indiana? What I got – and you will too – is a delightful and truly unique novel, constructed as a series of stories, about the memorable main character, Eva Thorvald.
The novel begins with Eva’s eccentric father, who is fascinated by food, and her emotionally unstable mother who together create this amazing child and then each in his own way deserts her by the end of the first chapter. We follow Eva through a tough childhood where she manages to hold her own and into a rebellious adolescence where she comes into her own. As Eva makes this journey, food plays an important role. By adulthood, she is a culinary phenomenon. Each chapter of the book is peopled with memorable characters who interact with and influence Eva in her maturation as a chef.
You will love this book. It is fresh and fun and full of scenes and characters and stories that you will remember long after you finish reading. I can’t recommend it strongly enough. Thanks, Jane, for bringing it to my attention! (Liz)
A SECOND HELPING
Although Liz reviewed this book previously (read here), I couldn’t not include it in my top five COVID summer reads. Not only is Kitchens highly entertaining, it inspired me to try a new recipe and ask my husband to plan a date night that was a “culinary adventure” (booked for next weekend). I love the form of this book which almost feels like a collection of short stories. Stradal focuses on a new person in each chapter, but eventually each story connects in some way with the life of Eva Thorvald, from her first weeks of life, through years of food obsession to becoming one of the most celebrated chefs in the world. I love Kitchens for its quirky yet emotional story, and also for the constant, mouthwatering descriptions of food. (Lily)
