Delicious! is a first novel by the long-time food writer and former editor of Gourmet Magazine, Ruth Reichl, and it’s a pleasant read. It makes a good book club choice because the themes are clear and there is a little something for everyone – a young woman’s journey into adulthood; a library scavenger hunt; budding romances; a race against time; a blend of contemporary New York life with small town life in World War II connected by old letters; and food! Enough talk about food and cooking to satisfy foodie readers.
Billie avoids her family by moving from California to New York, where her extraordinary palate and ability to discern various spices and ingredients lands her a job with the respected foodie magazine Delicious! (with an exclamation point). When she gradually begins to uncover a trove of letters dating back to World War II written to a former magazine staffer (James Beard) Billie thinks they might be her own ticket to food writing fame.
Ruth Reichl is the author of several highly acclaimed memoirs about cooking, food writing, and being a restaurant critic, so she must have known she was going out on a limb by publishing a novel for the first time at age 60+. In fact, critical reviews kept me from reading this until it was a February book club choice, so I’m glad I finally gave it a chance. The parallels drawn between Billie’s life and the life of the young writer of the letters, Lulu, are a little obvious, but the multiple story lines and themes, as well as the twin quests that the two young women embark on in their different times, make it a good choice for a book club discussion, especially one with food!
Click here to read what our library book club thought of the book.
Delicious!
Reichl, Ruth
Whelan, Julia, narr.
Random House
May 2014
Disclosure: I received an advance reading copy (ARC) of this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program a long time ago! I ended up reading parts of the published book (not the ARC) and listening to parts of it on audio. Narrator Julia Whelan does a great job with all of the voices, including the male ones.
This post is part of Weekend Cooking, a weekly feature on Beth Fish Reads. Click here for more Weekend Cooking posts from bloggers around the world.
Glad to hear you liked this one. I’ve heard the mixed reviews as well–I read Tender at the Bone YEARS ago and liked it. I’ve been meaning to pick something up from her since then.
I thought this was a fun book. I heard Reichl talk in New York last year and the parallels between the closing of Delicious and Gourmet are pretty tight.
I read Reichl’s book about her mother and fell in love with her writing. I’m still on the fence about this book, but I’ll probably end up reading it one day.
I keep seeing this on at the library. I should pick it up,
Tender at the Bone is still my favorite, but this one was a nice read!
I kept having to remind myself that the time frames didn’t match up, and that the story of the young woman Billie was taking place in the current day!
Maybe try the audio edition of it?
I liked the food parts the best!
I’ve heard good things about Delicious! Thanks for sharing your review.
Keep on cooking and booking!
Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out
I’ve read lots of good reviews about this one and the library scavenger hunt part just might be the tipping point for me!
I would definitely read another novel by her, if she’s working on another one!