The Kitchen Front
A Cosy WW2 Cookery Competition, Based On A True Story
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4.7 • 3 Ratings
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
From Jennifer Ryan, the bestselling author of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, comes an unforgettable story inspired by the true events of a BBC-sponsored wartime cooking competition.
‘The Great British Bake Off set in World War Two . . . an enchanting hug of a novel’ – Cathy Kelly, author of Other Women
‘A gorgeous novel about making the best of things during difficult times, whilst celebrating the importance of sisterhood and friendship’ – Jill Mansell, author of Should I Tell You?
Some wars will be fought at home . . .
Two years into the Second World War, and German U-boats are frequently disrupting Britain’s supply of food. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio programme called The Kitchen Front launches a new cooking contest – and the grand prize is a job as the programme’s first-ever female co-host.
For young widow Audrey, winning the competition could be a chance to pay off her husband’s debts and keep a roof over her children’s heads. However, her estranged sister, Gwendoline, is equally set on success even if her own kitchen maid, Nell, is competing against her. And then there is Zelda, a London-trained chef desperate to succeed in a male-dominated profession – and harbouring a secret that will change everything . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ryan's wonderful latest takes her back to the British WWII homefront she chronicled in The Chilbury Ladies' Choir. This time through, the spotlight is on women making due under the restrictions of food rationing. Ryan structures the novel around a cooking competition in 1942, with the prize being a cohosting position on a food-themed radio program. Four contestants from a small town 15 miles south of London become unexpected friends as they compete for the prize: frazzled war widow Audrey Landon, her social-climber sister, Gwendoline; orphaned kitchen maid Nell Brown; and secretly pregnant chef Zelda Dupont. While the men of the novel tend to be one-dimensional villains or saints, the main characters grow in surprising but believable ways as they find ways to help each other after competing. A master of plotting and working in different registers, Ryan weaves in a romance for Nell and a subplot involving Gwendoline's abusive husband while keeping the cooking competition front and center, complete with tempting recipes. Readers with an appetite for homefront WWII novels will find this deeply satisfying.
