Kitchens of the Great Midwest
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4.2 • 269 Ratings
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
'A tremendous novel that combines powerfully moving moments with hilarious satire' Daily Mail
'Eva Thorvald is the new Olive Kitteridge' Elisabeth Egan
'Kitchens of the Great Midwest is terrific' Jane Smiley, Guardian
Have you met Eva Thorvald?
To her father, a chef, she's a pint-sized recipe tester and the love of his life. To the chilli chowdown contestants of Cook County, Illinois, she's a fire-eating demon. To the fashionable foodie goddess of supper clubs, she's a wanton threat. She's an enigma, a secret ingredient that no one can figure out. Someday, Eva will surprise everyone.
One by one, they tell their story; together, they tell Eva's. Joyful, quirky and heartwarming, this is a novel about the family you lose, the friends you make and the chance connections that make a life.
On the day before her eleventh birthday, she's cultivating chilli peppers in her wardrobe like a pro. Abandoned by her mother, gangly and poor, Eva arms herself with the weapons of her unknown heritage: a kick-ass palate and a passion bordering on obsession.
Over the years, her tastes grow, and so do her ambitions. One day Eva will be the greatest chef in the world. But along the way, the people she meets will shape her - and she, them - in ways unforgettable, riotous and profound. So she - for one - knows exactly who she is by the time her mother returns.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Time flew by when we sat down with Kitchens of the Great Midwest, an effortlessly charming first novel by American writer J. Ryan Stradal. An unruly cast of characters skitters through this story, which revolves around the strapping Eva Thorvald, who evolves from a wide-eyed toddler with a thing for heirloom tomatoes into one of the world’s most fabled chefs. We’re awed by Stradal’s flair for depicting messy emotions and mixed-up families, and delighted by his funny insights into foodie culture and class dynamics.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Stradal's debut novel centers on Eva Thorvald, the daughter of a chef and an aspiring sommelier, who has food in her DNA a fact that remains irrefutable even after her mother abandons her and her father dies when she is an infant. Raised by relatives in Wisconsin and Iowa, Eva grows into a tall, awkward girl obsessed with restaurant kitchens, chili peppers, and local cuisine, which she folds into extremely popular and sought-after fine-dining experiences. Eva's story unfolds more like a short story collection than a novel as each vignette, told from the point of view of a different character, reveals another facet of her personality. The unifying (though slightly trite) conceit is that each character introduces an ingredient that lands on Eva's tasting menu in the final act. Stradal's neither a food snob nor exclusively a comfort-food advocate: he lovingly skewers Lutheran church-basement cuisine and locavore foodies alike as he tracks Eva's path to success. Certain bits of information occasionally feel deliberately withheld for dramatic effect (though they are eventually revealed), and Eva's superstar status at the end of the story feels like a little bit of a stretch, but Eva herself is a compelling, deliciously flawed character.
Customer Reviews
Interesting
I enjoyed the book. When I started, I wondered how it would all come together and at the last chapter, I wondered if there is a sequel! Unique way of telling a story.
Simply Brilliant
This book is written in a wonderful and unique way, as each chapter (with the exception of one) tells the protagonists story through the eyes of someone in her life. It follows the story of Eva, from birth up to present day, her trials and tribulations as well as the successes and failures of those around her.
The chapters are more like individual short stories and are named after various foods, which then feature in the story. From chapter to chapter, as elements of Evas life are revealed, some only fleetingly, we see Eva devleop and mature. It is this structure that makes the book so addictive, you genuinely end up caring what is going to happen next to her and to those around her.
The various food and story elements come together in the final chapetr, which means that to really appreciate it you do have to concentrate on who is who throughout the book. Frankly though this isn't hard given the style and use of language that J. Ryan Stradal used.
The story is warm and comforting, and such a alovely read that I can't recommend it enough. I found it by happy accident, it's the type of book that makes me wish i was in a book club so that I could rave about it to other like minded souls. It would also make a damn good independent film!
Kitchens of the great Midwest
Loved the variety of voices in this book- each personality came across so vividly and a life was built up with many facets and from many interlocking angles. Great vigorous writing.