In her memoir, Erin French talks about her childhood growing up in the small town of Freedom, Maine, falling in love with cooking and food through her father's diner, and the ups and downs of her adult life raising a son as a single mother, navigating a difficult marriage and divorce, and drug addiction.
I was not familiar with French, or her restaurant, before reading this, and there were definitely times I wanted to throw the book across the room on her behalf. French has clearly been through a lot and I admired her strength throughout everything, and to tell her story. One of the things that was so clear throughout her whole memoir, was her idea that food has the power to make people feel things, and bring people together, two ideas that are at the heart of her restaurant, The Lost Kitchen.
One thing that didn't work as well for me was the writing style. There were some times that jumps or gaps in events popped up without much explanation, and so it would take a bit to figure out how much time had passed. Additionally, some parts/topics were described in somewhat broad strokes, which made things difficult to follow at times.
If you're a memoir fan, particularly of those in the food/restaurant industry or about women rebuilding their lives, I'd definitely recommend picking this one up! There's also a series about her/her restaurant coming out soon, so be on the lookout for that.
cw: drug use/addiction, divorce, emotional and physical abuse
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was not familiar with French, or her restaurant, before reading this, and there were definitely times I wanted to throw the book across the room on her behalf. French has clearly been through a lot and I admired her strength throughout everything, and to tell her story. One of the things that was so clear throughout her whole memoir, was her idea that food has the power to make people feel things, and bring people together, two ideas that are at the heart of her restaurant, The Lost Kitchen.
One thing that didn't work as well for me was the writing style. There were some times that jumps or gaps in events popped up without much explanation, and so it would take a bit to figure out how much time had passed. Additionally, some parts/topics were described in somewhat broad strokes, which made things difficult to follow at times.
If you're a memoir fan, particularly of those in the food/restaurant industry or about women rebuilding their lives, I'd definitely recommend picking this one up! There's also a series about her/her restaurant coming out soon, so be on the lookout for that.
cw: drug use/addiction, divorce, emotional and physical abuse
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.