It’s 1830s England, and Culinarians—doyens who consult with society’s elite to create gorgeous food and confections—are the crème de la crème of high society.
Helena Higgins, top of her class at the Royal Academy, has a sharp demeanor and an even sharper palate—and knows stardom awaits her if she can produce greatness in her final year.
Penelope Pickering is going to prove the value of non-European cuisine to all of England. Her contemporaries may scorn her Filipina heritage and her dishes, but with her flawless social graces and culinary talents, Penelope is set to prove them wrong.
Elijah Little has nothing to his name but a truly excellent instinct for flavors. London merchants won’t allow a Jewish boy to own a shop, so he hawks his pasties for a shilling a piece to passersby—but he knows with training he can break into the highest echelon of society.
When Penelope and Helena meet Elijah, a golden opportunity arises: to pull off a project never seen before, and turn Elijah from a street vendor to a gentleman chef.
But Elijah’s transformation will have a greater impact on this trio than they originally realize—and mayhem, unseemly faux pas, and a little romance will all be a part of the delicious recipe.
I wish I'd known sooner that this is set in an alternate timeline, it would have saved me a lot of time and confusion! So, in case other readers are confused (it is detailed in an author's note at the end, but that's, you know, at the end): in the history we know, Princess Charlotte died in childbirth, leading directly to Victoria's ascension. In this novel, she survived the birth - although apparently the child didn't, as Charlotte's baby in our history was a boy and in the novel is a girl - and took the throne, leading to a period of a lot more freedom for Britian's ladies. They're now actively encouraged to take up professions, and the most highly esteemed of all is Culinarian - what we might call a high level chef, almost exclusively women.
All this backstory is given to us in dribs and drabs throughout the story, so it was a while before I felt that I fully understood what was happening.
Now, a confession; although I know the story, of course, and I know some of the songs - I've been in a choir ever - I have no memory of ever seeing the movie. So although I could follow the story perfectly well, I'm probably missing injokes and references to characters and moments from the movie or show.
I enjoyed this, and I thought it was cleverly written, but I wasn't desperate to get back to it and find out what was going to happen; I read it in several sessions over several days, which is not like me. I still recommend it, but I don't think it's a page turner.
Good, but not great. I'll keep an eye out for more by the author.
My Fine Fellow publishes on the 11th of January, 2022 in the US, and on the 12th of February, 2022 in the UK, using the same cover as far as I can find out. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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