This month’s 5 on Five is hosted by Laura K. Bray. And I have to admit, the (optional!) topic, Books that Made You Hungry, is a challenge for me. I don’t cook. I’m not drawn to books that feature food. In my own books, I have to remind myself to at least indicate that the characters are eating enough to survive. (There’s more food in The Grapevine because Craig is co-writing and because Lou is a woman who eats.)
I do love an excellent meal —both what Craig cooks regularly (thank you, Universe), and in a good restaurant. I always love experiencing the food of other countries that we travel to. But I’m just as happy with, for example, a simple meal of the incredible dark sweet rye bread with butter we recently encountered in Helsinki.
All kinds of things go into my food issues. A lifetime of dancing. Living and working in LA, in the film industry, possibly the most anorexic city and business on the planet. Having lots of actor friends who don’t eat, either. The fact that I made a deliberate choice a long time ago not to participate in activities that are used by the patriarchy to oppress women (cooking, makeup, salons, Ozempic, etc). Yes, I am aware that eating disorders are also connected to patriarchal oppression, but let’s face it - they get you one way or another, don’t they?
Anyway, all that to say that trying to come up with any books at all that include food in a meaningful way is difficult.
However…
I do notice food in the Nicci French books because Nicci and Sean use food as part of the tapestry of sensuality that is so much a part of their writing style. Some of their characters cook elaborately, some don’t — but the sensuality of food, the smells, the colors, the textures, the preparation, are part of just about every book they’ve written, and it’s a trick that contributes to the immersiveness of their crime and psychological suspense novels, all which I own and re-read regularly.
Maybe these occur to me because I was checking out the new TV series adaptation this week. But food was extremely memorable in those books because it was a near-daily struggle both to find it and to make it palatable. That focus was a huge factor in the absolute reality of those books. Who can forget the wheat grinding in The Long Winter, or the ginger water scene, or Ma’s blackbird pie or Laura’s first experience with the overwhelming sweetness of a store-bought cake?
I guess here is the place to mention my thoughts on the TV series. It’s not terrible - which I kind of expected it to be. I appreciate the inclusiveness of it at the same time that I am uncomfortable with the obvious lie of that inclusiveness. The real-life Ingalls were no friends to the Osage, nor to Black pioneers. If kids are watching the series, I support showing the ideal - and there is one Osage staff writer and several Osage consultants on the series. But no Black writers. And I haven’t seen enough of the series to know how it handles the forced relocation of the tribes.
Beyond those key issues, the series is too cottage-core for me and the white characters (except for one French actor) are so strangely soft-spoken it feels like they’re all on Valium. But it is beautiful to watch while I’m doing something else and 11-year-old Alice Halsey is doing an impressive job of carrying the show as Laura. Altogether it feels like a sort of dream retelling of the books - recognizable scenes pop up in a flow of something that is more vibe than story.
My in-person book club read the first Monk and Robot book, by Becky Chambers, this month and the focus on the sensuality and comfort of tea (as a both noun and a verb) was a big part of the experience.
Once again I credit the book club for introducing me to a book I would never have picked up on my own, and this one was a good introduction to a new-to-me subgenre: Solarpunk (or Cozy Sci-fi). I won’t be seeking out other books like it - this one is the length of a novella and I was impatient with the pace within 30 pages. But the writing is beautiful, it ties in pretty synchronistically to my van life research for both books I’m writing at the moment, and I understand its appeal in an online, internet/AI dominated world.
Also, I really applaud Chambers for envisioning a future in which humans have committed to and successfully implemented a low-tech and contemplative way of life, harmonious with nature and with each other. In this future, people are kind.
Whereas the vast majority of post-apocalyptic novels are written by men and overwhelmingly they’re violent male fantasies featuring rape and enslavement of women.
Let’s work toward the future WE want.
Finally, I need to mention on this month’s topic that, weirdly, two of my favorite TV series/movies of the last five years are ALL about food and the restaurant business: The Bear and Boiling Point. The idea of working in a restaurant is a complete non-starter to me, but I find those shows mesmerizing and almost unbearable in their dramatic tension. Do you realize how good the writing and execution of those shows have to be for me to be invested in the outcome? We’re in the middle of a fascist coup! This is just freaking food!
But the writing and execution really are that good. Both are five star watches.
Okay, enough food for me. Back to female rage.
But I would love to hear if you have a favorite foodcentric book.
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