Souper Mum was a light, very funny novel that takes a look at family, modern life and the joyless merits of quinoa. Fish fingers play a starring role in this novel. Lots of laugh and a good reflection of how difficult it is to raise a family with all the pressures put on the mother. I must admit I kept thinking of Gordon Ramsey while reading this. Check out the blurb on the back of the book.
Monday morning can’t get any worse for harassed mum-of-four Jools Campbell when, after a frantic school run, she’s cornered in the supermarket by pompous celebrity chef Tommy McCoy, who starts criticising the contents of her trolley. Apparently the fact that she doesn’t make her own bread or buy organic is tantamount to child abuse. In a hurry and short of patience, she berates McCoy for judging her when she hasn’t the time or the money to feed her family in line with his elitist ideals. Unbeknownst to Jools, her rant has been filmed and immediately goes viral on YouTube, making her a reluctant celebrity overnight. With McCoy determined to discredit her by delving into her personal life, Jools decides it’s time to fight her corner in the name of all the fraught mums out there who are fed up with being made to feel bad by food snobs like him. Armed with some fish fingers and her limited cooking repertoire, Jools must negotiate the unfamiliar world of celebrity while staying true to her instincts as a mum.
The second book is also from the library and this was a delightful read.
Among the gaudy, busy streets of Macau, Grace Miller has lost her way. Her marriage to Pete, her Australian husband, is fraying and her dreams of having a family seem impossible.
With the heralding of a new year she resolves to do something bold. Something her impetuous Mama might do. In this pocket of China, filled with casinos and yum cha restaurants, she opens a small cafe. A sanctuary of macarons and tea, Lillian’s becomes a place where the women of Macau come together, bridging cultural divides and sharing in each other’s joys and heartbreaks.
For Grace, life seems to be finally coming together. But when Pete does the unthinkable, the secrets Grace thought she had buried rise to the surface, and it’s now or never to lay old ghosts to rest, and trust her heart to lead her.
The third book is one I finished while on holiday.
This was a thrilling read. I have only read a couple of Le Carre novels but I will be searching out a few more after this one.
“A half-starved young Russian man in a long black overcoat is smuggled into Hamburg at dead of night. He has an improbable amount of cash secreted in a purse around his neck. He is a devout Muslim. Or is he? He says his name is Issa.” “Annabel, an idealistic young German civil rights lawyer, determines to save Issa from deportation, Soon her client’s survival becomes more important to her than her own career – or safety. In pursuit of Issa’s mysterious past, she confronts the incongruous Tommy Brue, the sixty-year-old scion of Brue Freres, a failing British bank based in Hamburg.” Annabel, Issa and Brue form an unlikely alliance and a triangle of impossible loves is born. Meanwhile, scenting a sure kill in the “War on Terror,” the rival spies of Germany. England and America converge upon the innocents.
This novel has been made into a movie. I would dearly like to see how the story has been portrayed. I will need to hire out the DVD.
Gippsland Granny 