Read May 2019. Published 30th May 2019.
Kate Parker, self confessed foodie, is approaching the dreaded age of forty and her life has been turned upside down.
Just as she is about to move in with her boyfriend Nick, he declares he is not sure whether he is ready to take such a big step in their relationship - made all the worse by him telling Kate this while they are on holiday in France, on what was supposed to be a romantic break.
Kate's heart is bruised, but she is not ready to give up on Nick just yet. Kate gives Nick a couple of months to sort himself out and decide what he wants.
To make matters worse, Kate's job prospects are looking about as healthy as her romantic ones. Kate has worked at the head office of Fletcher's supermarket chain for more years than she cares to remember. Her job as a copy editor, thinking up pithy slogans for below-par products, is hardly her dream job, but she is comfortable there, and the spectre of possible redundancy is looming.
Meanwhile, Kate is reduced to returning home to stay in her mother's spare room, like a teenager, which is not helping her depressed state of mind.
In order to give Kate a pick-me-up, her friend Bailey suggests that she offers her services as a volunteer somewhere local. This is how Kate finds herself at the door of Lauderdale House for Exceptional Ladies, a care home for elderly ladies who have lived distinguished lives, and gets introduced to the formidable, sharp-minded and equally sharp-tongued, Cecily Finn.
Cecily is ninety-seven and has lived the most amazing life, but she spends most of her days shut-up in her room, bored, detesting the other residents of Lauderdale and waiting for death. It seems that Cecily is determined to belittle Kate at every opportunity, but they eventually begin to bond over a shared love of books and food. Cecily has the most impressive collection of books Kate has ever seen, including an extensive selection of cookery books.
Cecily takes an interest in Kate and in an attempt to get her to appreciate her true worth, she persuades her to read a 1950s self-help recipe book, called Thought For Food. And so begins a remarkable friendship between two lonely and stubborn women.
Can Cecily persuade Kate that food is for feasting, life is for living, and it is not wrong to ask for more?
What an absolutely lovely and beautifully written book, based in part of the life of Vicky Zimmerman's own grandmother, Cecily Finn - and the 1957 recipe book Cecily wrote with Joan O'Connor!
The developing friendship between Kate and Cecily so reminds me of the relationship between Iris (Kate Winslet) and Arthur (Eli Wallach) in the film, The Holiday (one of my absolute favourite films, by the way). In the film, retired screen-writer Arthur makes Iris see that she needs to behave like the leading lady in her own life, because she is important, just when her self-esteem is at its lowest.
Cecily is the Arthur of this book, who aims to get Kate (Iris) to see exactly the same - that she is the leading lady of her own life too, and should not settle for second best when she deserves much better - it is ok to ask for more! Fantastic!
I absolutely loved this story. It made me laugh and cry (sob all the way through "Dinner for an Absent Friend", in fact) - and very hungry too! As a compulsive collector of books - including owning over 100 cookery books alone (I just counted!) - I would love a copy of Thought For Food to remember this book by, but sadly this seems to be unavailable as the moment. I live in hope that the publication of this glorious book, may persuade the publisher to reissue this.
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