With delectable prose, a sharp heroine ahead of her time, and an adventure across the English countryside in search of great food, Good Taste is the perfect historical novel for fans of Dear Mrs. Bird and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
You can tell a lot about a person from what they like to eat...
England in 1932 is in the grip of the Great Depression. Author of a much-loved but not very successful biography, Stella Douglas is a bit depressed herself. When she's summoned to see her editor in London, she dreads being told her writing career is over before it's even started.
But much to her surprise, she finds she is being commissioned to write a history of food in England and how the English like to eat. It's to be quintessentially English and will remind English housewives of the old ways, and English men of the glory of their country. The publishers hope such a book will lift the spirits of the nation.
The only problem is--all English food is actually quite terrible (and anything good is from elsewhere).
So Stella sets about inviting recipes from all corners of England, in the hope of discovering a hidden culinary gem. But what she discovers is oatcakes and gravy and lots and lots of potatoes.
Longing for something more thrilling, she heads off to speak to the nation's housewives. But when her car breaks down and the dashing and charismatic antiques dealer Freddie springs to her rescue, she is led in a very different direction...
Full of wit, life, and--against all odds--delicious food, Good Taste is a story of discovery and one woman's desire to make her own way as a modern woman.
