I was inspired by Eliza's passion, her independence, her bravery and ambition. Like a cook's pantry, The Language of Food is full of wonderful ingredients, exciting possibilities and secrets. Full of warmth and as comforting as sitting by the kitchen range, I loved it' Jo Thomas

This charming story of a friendship that was formed in a kitchen is based on the real life of food writer and poet Eliza Acton, who created one of Britain’s first cookery books. I loved the bond that she and her kitchen help Anna Kirby forge despite the huge difference in their class; they’re both very determined women. A fabulous historical novel” PRIMA Interesting but even book that would be better as a magazine long-read. Why do menus or TV ads always use buzzwords to make foods sound better (juicy cuts of steak, fresh vegetables, locally-sourced products, etc.)? What's the origins of ketchup? Why do we propose a toast? I'd like to think that the lesson here is that we are all immigrants, that no culture is an island, that beauty is created at the confusing and painful boundaries between cultures and peoples and religions. I guess we can only look forward to the day when the battles we fight are about nothing more significant than where to go for tacos.I thought this book could also be profitably listened to by ad copywriters (if such a profession still exists) and people who are in the business of thinking up catchy name for edible products.

Told in alternate voices, this novel brings endearing friendship, the joy of cookery and creativity with food; and with limited options for spinsters, it also means certain independence. There isn't a lot here that really couldn't have been condensed into a magazine long-read. And it could have been edited much better. As noted elsewhere, "San Francisco" is misspelled (with another "s" vs. a "c" in the middle). His wife Janet is mentioned but it's not clear who she is at the first mention and seems like a rando name dropped into the text. The writing seems disjointed and while some of the information is really interesting (the origins of ketchup) the writing really isn't very good. It almost feels like more than one hand wrote this and everything was combined together in a sloppy effort to make a coherent narrative. A story of courage, unlikely friendship and an exceptional character, told in vibrant and immersive prose' Caroline ScottI found The Language of Food a fascinating read, drawing its inspiration from several real-life characters, in particular the limited facts that are known and speculated about Eliza Acton's life and writing career, but fictionalising many aspects to create an engrossing character-based storyline. Several supporting characters represent people who really existed - Chef Alexis Soyer and his revolutionary commercial kitchens, philanthropist Judith Montefiore, who went on to publish an important book on Jewish cooking and establish soup kitchens in London's East End, and Mr. Arnott, who in real life provided "currie" and "currie powder" recipes for Eliza Acton's cookbook (no details of their actual personal relationship are known). The characters of Ann Kirby and her family and the Reverend and Mrs. Thorpe are entirely fictionalised, but are representative of both the desperate impoverishment of the lower classes in the mid-19th century and the appallingly paternalistic attitudes towards mental illness, women's rights and social mobility that pervaded Victorian society. I always know I'm reading a great book when I want to recommend it to friends before I've even finished it and that was certainly the case here. The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs is an absorbing historical fiction novel for those who love the poetry of food, the magic of a kitchen and anything to do with cooking, baking, chopping, saucing, stirring or tasting food. Highly recommended! Identifying oneself as a linguist or applied linguist can be, as I am sure many readers of this journal know, something of a conversation stopper. The relevance of detailed language analysis to real-world affairs does not seem immediately evident to many people. And clumsy attempts to clarify, at least in my case, seem often to make matters worse rather than better. This was a beautifully written and very engaging read for me right from the start. I enjoyed following the two women’s lives and both narratives. They two kind of run in continuum with each other since they are for the most part working together on the book, but there are segments where we also follow each of them individually as certain subplots unfold. Now I'm off to have a cafe latte with sable aux chocolat. White coffee with a choccie biscuit doesn't quite do it, does it?

Wonderful... Abbs is such a good story teller. She catches period atmosphere and character so well’ Vanessa Nicolson When the women prep the food and discuss ingredients with final touches, you can visualize it on a tray with its tasty aroma filling the house. The atmosphere of the cookery evokes your senses of taste and smell. When Eliza savors the six course French dinner, she eats it so slowly devouring its intricacies and complexities to a point that you want to grab that food and taste it yourself. The friendship between two women makes you want to join them in their endeavors.The truth about Mrs. Beeton’s book is also interesting, and is something people should be made aware of, in my opinion.