Recommended Reads: Food in Fiction

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating." - Luciano Pavarotti

Just as the aroma of a simmering pot of stew can whet our appetites on a cold winter evening, so can some recent (and not so recent) fictional titles centered around food to entice our reading tastes. There have been a number of very popular titles lately centered around culinary themes.

The interest in stories with these themes is reflected in a couple of books that have lately been turned into movies with great box office success. Recently the movie Julia and Julia (based on the book) grossed over 93 million in box office sales and catapulted Child's classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking back into a top-selling book on Amazon. Bon Appetit!

Recorded cassette (RC), digital books (DB), braille (BR), large print (LT), described VHS Video (DV) and described DVD (DVD) copies of these titles are available from the Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library. Please contact the library to order any of these books.

Chocolat by Joanne Harris.
RC 49806
On the first Sunday in Lent, newcomers Vianne Rocher and her young daughter Anouk open a chocolate shop, La Céleste Praline, near the church in a small French village. Priest Monsieur Reynaud and Mademoiselle Rocher compete for the townspeople's attention.

The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: and Other Small Acts of Liberation by Elizabeth Berg.
RC 67028, DB 67028 (BARD Download Only)
Tales about women breaking free from conventions. In "Truth or Dare" the protagonist struggles to accept that her ex-husband has moved on. In the title story the main character flees a Weight Watchers meeting to indulge her forbidden-food cravings. Some strong language. 2008.

Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments, with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies by Laura Esquivel.
BR 9187, RC 36256, DB 36256 (BARD Download Only)
When Pedro asks Mama Elena for the hand of her youngest daughter, Tita, he is offered her sister instead. By family tradition, Tita is to remain unmarried to care for her mother. Tita, a magical cook, shares recipes that, seasoned by her emotions, have an extraordinary impact on the events that follow her mother's decision. Some descriptions of sex. Bestseller.

The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones.
BR 17541
Forty-year-old American food writer Maggie McElroy, grieving over her husband's accidental death, learns of a paternity suit filed against him in Beijing. She flies to China to investigate and to interview rising culinary star Sam Liang, a Chinese American chef, who teaches her about more than cuisine.

The Persia Café by Melany Neilson.
RC 51556
Fannie has grown up in segregated Mississippi, runs the Persia Café, and is married to her high school sweetheart, Will Leary. In the summer of 1962, her perceptions of her hometown and her husband are altered when she discovers the body of a murdered African American youth, Earnest March. Some strong language.

All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki.
RC 56826
Elderly Idaho potato farmers Lloyd and Momoko Fuller run a seed company while neighbors Cassie and Will Quinn experiment with genetically modified products. When the Fullers' health fails, Cassie persuades their estranged daughter to return. Meanwhile an anti-biotech group befriended by Lloyd targets an agribusiness. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex.

The Book of Salt by Monique Truong.
RC 58470, DB 58470 (BARD Download Only)
A fictional account by Bình, a live-in Vietnamese cook for American literary figures Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, describing his experiences during five years in their Paris household between 1929 and 1934. Interwoven are Bình's reminiscences about his upbringing and troubled past in Vietnam. Some descriptions of sex and some violence.

Julie and Julia by Julie Powell.
RC 69563, DB 69563 (In Process), DVD 298
New York, 2002. The author recounts learning to cook by preparing every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Describes the ways her culinary undertaking--and the blog she wrote about it--transformed her life from miserable to fulfilled in 365 days. Some strong language. Bestseller.

Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson.
RC 52160, DB 52160 (BARD Download Only)
To escape from her abusive ex-husband, caterer Goldy Bear accepts a summer job cooking for a retired general. After one of her suitors dies in a car accident, she joins another, Detective Tom Schulz, in the investigation. And soon her son, Arch, is in danger. Some violence and some strong language.

Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado.
RC 25170
In the 1920s, beautiful, childlike Gabriela comes from impoverished backlands to a cacao-growing region of Brazil and falls in love with an Arab. First she becomes the cook in his cafe, then his mistress, and--reluctantly--his wife. Some descriptions of sex.

The Wonder Worker by Susan Howatch.
RC 47291
March 1988. Nicholas Darrow, now in his mid-forties, is priest-in-charge of St. Benet's Healing Centre in London's financial district. When Alice Fletcher--an overweight but talented cook--stumbles into St. Benet's, she is immediately mesmerized by Darrow. Her arrival sets off a chain of events that lead to Darrow's downfall. Some strong language.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.
BR 11466, DV 907, RC 33498, DB 33498 (BARD Download Only)
Charlie Bucket's tour of Mr. Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory sends him on adventures beyond his wildest dreams. For grades 4-7.

World of Pies: A Novel by Karen Stolz.
RC 50867, BR 13218
Vignettes of growing up in small-town Texas, with regional recipes included. In 1962 Roxanne, a baseball-playing tomboy, learns how to bake for the pie contest and encounters racial prejudice for the first time. In high school she is embarrassed by her mother's pregnancy. And tragedy strikes the family.

Inn at Lake Devine: A Novel by Elinor Lipman.
RC 48606
Romantic comedy set in the 1960s. As a child of twelve, Natalie is offended when her Jewish family is told by a Vermont innkeeper that their most "comfortable" guests are gentiles. Over the years she develops various schemes to infiltrate the resort, and eventually she spends a weekend with the owner's son.

The Cat Who Said Cheese by Lilian Jackson Braun.
BR 10344, RC 41656, DB 41656 (BARD Download Only)
It is autumn in Pickax City, and Qwill, along with other residents, is preparing for the Great Food Explo--a festival of all kinds of happenings related to food. There is also a mysterious female guest at the New Pickax Hotel whose presence is causing quite a stir. But things really get hectic when a bomb explodes in the hotel and the intended victim seems to be the mystery guest. As usual Siamese cats Koko and Yum Yum help solve the crime. Bestseller.

Big Bad City: A Novel of the 87th Precinct by Ed McBain.
RC 48250, BR 12182
A nun with breast implants is murdered in a city park. Detective Carella investigates the crime while still fuming at the unexpected release of the man who killed his father. Meanwhile a burglar is canvassing the city leaving chocolate chip cookies at each crime scene. Violence and strong language.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mystery by Joanne Fluke.
RC 54603, DB 54603 (BARD Download Only)
Bakery owner Hannah Swensen of Lake Eden, Minnesota, discovers the body of the local dairy delivery man in her alley. Although her brother-in-law, Bill Todd, is a deputy sheriff, Hannah does some sleuthing of her own. Then another murder occurs. Includes cookie recipes.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg.
RC 26698, DB 26698 (BARD Download Only), DV 57
Story centers on a cafe in the railroad town of Whistle Stop, Alabama, and on Idgie and Ruth, the two women who run the cafe. There are numerous real-life, minor characters in this tale that ranges from Whistle Stop to Valdosta, Georgia, Birmingham, and Chicago, and swings back and forth in time from the pre-Depression era to the present. The core of this novel is the unusual love affair between Idgie and Ruth. Some strong language.

Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe by Nan Lyons.
RC 14459
An extremely fat gourmand with an adolescent sense of humor, who is the publisher of a food magazine, is dying of overeating. For revenge he plans to do away with all the great chefs, the creators of the delicious dishes that are his downfall. One by one they are murdered. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex.

A Quiche Before Dying: A Jane Jeffry Mystery by Jill Churchill.
RC 69215, DB 69215 (In Process)
Sleuth widow Jane Jeffry enrolls in a writing course that is also attended by Agnes Pryce, a nasty local author who insults fellow classmates and the teacher. At a potluck dinner Agnes is fatally poisoned after eating Jane's quiche. Jane investigates while she pens a book. Some strong language.

Thin Woman: An Epicurean Mystery by Dorothy Cannell.
BR 17742, RC 66292, DB 66292 (BARD Download Only)
Ellie Simons, beautiful but overweight, hires escort Bentley Haskell to pose as her fiancé on a visit to her uncle Merlin's imposing estate. Ellie encounters unexpected romance and a treasure hunt when Merlin suddenly passes away, leaving his fortune to her and Bentley--provided that she shed sixty pounds.

Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris.
BR 13842, RC 63468, DB 63468 (BARD Download Only)
Elderly and widowed, Framboise Dartigen returns unrecognized to her childhood home in Les Laveuses, France. Memories of World War II occupation, collaboration, and resistance intermingle with family events as Framboise uses her mother's recipe album to create a menu for a cafe. Some descriptions of sex and some strong language.

Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust.
RC 23759, RC 23760, RC 23761

RC 23759 – In this complex semi-autobiographical series by the classic French author, divided into three different volumes, begins with part one of the series "Swann's Way," which covers Marcel's youth and the love story of M. Swann. This first volume also contains "Within a Budding Grove," relating how Marcel's boyish affair with Gilberte ends, and his travels to the seaside for his health.

RC 23760 - In the next volume of this Remembrance of Things Past series, "The Germantes Way," Marcel, now a young man of fashion, moves in the exclusive social circle of the Duchess de Guermantes. Part four, "Cities of the Plain," concerns the homosexual Baron de Charlus and Marcel's growing attraction to Albertine. The Dreyfus Affair is included in the background.

RC 23761 –This last volume of the Remembrance of Things Past series, "The Captive," finds Marcel living with Albertine, but tortured by jealousy of her lesbian friends. In part six, "The Fugitive," Albertine leaves Marcel and is killed in an accident. The concluding book seven, "Time Regained," shows how World War I affected the lives of all the characters.

Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall.
RC 61536, DB 61536 (BARD Download Only)
Isabel Dalhousie from The Sunday Philosophy Club (RC58888) fills in for her niece Cat at her Edinburgh, Scotland, gourmet food shop. Isabel meets people who need her help, including a heart transplant patient haunted by his donor. Then Cat returns from Italy, where she met a new man.