John Saturnall's Feast
A Novel
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
"An enthralling tale of an orphan kitchen boy turned master of culinary arts, with sumptuous recipes and intoxicatingly gorgeous illustrations." —Vanity Fair
A beautiful, rich and sensuous historical novel, John Saturnall's Feast tells the story of a young orphan who becomes a kitchen boy at a manor house, and rises through the ranks to become the greatest cook of his generation. It is a story of food, star-crossed lovers, ancient myths, and one boy's rise from outcast to hero.
Orphaned when his mother dies of starvation, having been cast out of her village as a witch, John is taken in at the kitchens at Buckland Manor, where he quickly rises from kitchen boy to cook, and is known for his uniquely keen palate and natural cooking ability. However, he quickly gets on the wrong side of Lady Lucretia, the aristocratic daughter of the Lord of the Manor. In order to inherit the estate, Lucretia must wed, but her fiancé is an arrogant buffoon. When Lucretia takes on a vow of hunger until her father calls off her engagement to her insipid husband-to-be, it falls to John to try to cook her delicious foods that might tempt her to break her fast.
"Shimmering with wonder, suffused with an intense and infectious appreciation for the gifts of bountiful nature, John Saturnall's Feast is a banquet for the senses and a treat to anyone who relishes masterful storytelling." —The Washington Post
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Food, history, and romance add layers of flavor to Norfolk's (In the Shape of a Boar) lush new novel, his first in a decade, about an accused witch's son who becomes a noble family's "Top Chef" during the English Civil War. Alternating protagonist-hero John Saturnall's charmingly antique recipes with the narrative of his occasionally brutal life, Norfolk depicts 17th-century England as a land savaged by political turmoil and religious persecutors. While just a boy, John runs away with his mother from a village mob, taking refuge in a place known as Buccla's Wood, where she teaches him about the earth's bounty, but then dies before revealing all her secrets. John soon finds himself tied to a saddle and transported across the Vale to Buckland Manor. There, he works his way up from kitchen boy to "Master Cook," his culinary gifts blossoming along with his feelings for Lucretia Fremantle, daughter of the lord of the manor. John and Lucretia revive the feast that brings together highborn and low, rich and poor. Despite their efforts, warring factions manage to cause mayhem at the manor, leaving John with the unhappy task of preparing a wedding banquet for Lucretia and her cruel cousin. Artfully told with folkloric undertones, Norfolk's tale features bruised dreamers seeking sensory respite from their abusers in settings ranging from the kitchen to the battlefield. Known for intellectual prose and complex plots, Norfolk this time out attempts to interweave time and senses, reality and myth, rewarding steadfast readers with savory recipes and a bittersweet upstairs-downstairs love story.
