Miss Eliza's English Kitchen: A Novel of Victorian Cookery and Friendship

​Whenever we consult our favourite recipe book for that special dish we probably don't give a thought to the fact that once upon a time recipes were not ordered in the way we recognise today, i.e. a list of ingredients giving the correct proportions, followed by a carefully detailed method. Once, recipes were far more vague that left it up to the reader to figure out what might be meant by a "quantity" or "scoop" of, say, flour, sugar, butter or apples (two, six, ten?) A spoonful might meant a teaspoon or a tablespoon (try adding a tablespoon of cinnamon to your apple pie and see what happens!) Experienced cooks would have kept the recipes in their heads but without better guidance it must have resulted in many a cooking disaster for the beginner!

Recipes didn't take the form we know today until writers like Eliza Acton came along and started to pull them into shape for the average cook. This novel re-imagines the life of Eliza Acton and that of her kitchen assistant, Ann Kirby, in dual narratives. 

Born into a comfortable family and occupying much of her time writing poetry, Eliza's secure world is turned upside down when her father has a financial failure and takes off to France, leaving Eliza and her mother to find some way of making ends meet. They start a boarding house near Tonbridge, Kent, but to her mother's dismay, Eliza decides that she will look after the kitchen and meals. Eliza's publisher had once suggested she write a cookery book rather than more poetry and eventually she begins her project, assisted by Ann. Her mother hates the idea ("Ladies do not cook!") and still holds out hope. "Only marriage and money bring freedom," she reminds her. "Without them you will grow old and lonely and bitter, a hated old maid who must serve others for a pittance." When an opportunity does arise, Eliza has to make her decision. Marriage and a comfortable but boring life, or to risk all and publish her book?

In Ann's narrative, we experience the grim reality of the starving poor in Victorian England. Her demented mother may have to be confined in an asylum, and her father who has only one leg struggles with drink and finding any kind of secure work. With their  pompous do-gooding and righteousness, the local vicar and his wife turn out to be both a blessing and a curse on Ann's family. Fortunately her brother has found work in the kitchen of a London gentleman's club under the famous French chef Soyer and Ann dreams of the day she, too, might also cook for a living. Eventually, her path leads her to Eliza's boarding house and the wonderful partnership of cooking and friendship is formed.

The descriptions of everything from street scenes to Victorian parlours are as lush and extravagant as some of the recipes and the narrative moves seamlessly between the experiences of the two women. Like a mouth-watering, rich meal, this novel is to be savoured slowly and not rushed. (I imagine readers may want to know what some of these Victorian recipes tasted like and there could be a run on old copies of Eliza Acton's book, maybe even the opportunity for a new tie-in edition.)

Five stars.

Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. Links to international book sites be will added closer to publication date.

(Annabel Abbs' two earlier novels both received Editors' Choice awards from the Historical Novel Society. See my reviews of The Joyce Girl and Frieda.)

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