For the past thirty years, Julien had wondered why his mother had walked out on him and his father. Henri (Julien's dad) refused to mention his wife's name again. But now Henri is dying. Julien remembers his father's notebook. It had been a gift from his mother, Helene. Henri had kept the recipes in it that had made him the renowned chef of the Relias Fleur restaurant.

This is one of those feel good Reads. It shows of the loving relationship between a father and son and their connection with food. With just under 200 pages, this is a relatively quick read.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author Jacky Durand for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rich, scrumptious, bittersweet, The Little French Recipe Book is a wonderful novel dipped in a mix of nostalgia, love, and secrets.

Julien’s mother walked out of his life when he was a child. He has always lived with his father, watching him prepare dishes like a magician performs his best tricks. With organic ingredients, Julien’s father turns everything he has in hands into delicious meals. Well, the author does exactly the same. Jacky Durant’s love for France and gastronomy oozes from the pages, as strong as the wafts coming from a well-loved and well-used kitchen. My nose was filled with the best scents holding promises for the palate and the mind. My heart was full of emotion as I was watching Julien and his father follow a gap-filled recipe, neither of them knowing how to reach the other. Julien is keen on following his father’s steps and master the kitchen magic, but the older man has other plans and wishes for his son a good education and life.

Before leaving them, Julien’s mother had convinced his father to put his recipes in a notebook. She had filled it with his fantastic knowledge, and Julien now wants this precious book, his last link to his beloved dying father. This is why he decides to walk down memory lane and unfolds the knots of his past, hoping to find answers and solace in a lifetime of memories. His discoveries moved me to the core. The author’s simple but outstandingly writing got my taste buds working and my eyes well up. The bond between father and son, despite the difference in generation and all that it entails. Julien’s father is not a man of words, but his actions speak a thousand words. I am thankful I got to share their stories.

The Little French Recipe Book is a flavourful ode to family love and lost moments, to friendships, childhood, and secrets kept with the best intentions. I loved every page. I tasted every feeling with all my senses. I highly recommend this profoundly moving tale to everyone.

Heartwarming and a beautiful trip down memory lane. About a boy growing uo and becoming a man.. trying his hardest to make his dad proud, while wanting to follow his own path.

Easy read and interesting concept. It felt like a friendly tale that your grandmother might tell you

Great read. Throughly enjoyed this book.
Thank you to both NetGalley and publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review

We can never look into other people's relationships without our own experiences affecting them. Especially a son looking at his father's relationships. It doesn't stop us wondering though.

An interesting and heartwarming read

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I read an advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

A poignant and heartwarming book that kept me hooked and crave for the food described.
I liked the plot, the storytelling and the well thought cast of characters.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Many years ago I read a novel called La Cucina about cooking and love , set in Italy and this book has a similar feel to it, though it is not as sexually explicit. This novel cleverly combines the story of a small french bistro, the people who live and work it, their loves and lives with the recipes that they cook. My mouth positively watered with the descriptions of the food. . If you have already discovered the novels of Antoine Laurain you will love this as well. It is a feel good read, but also poignant. Highly recommended.

This one was definitely a slow grower - but it slowly but surely drew me in, both with the characters and the food!

This is a beautifully translated novel, The Little French Recipe Book, from Jacky Durand that explores the heart of a father, Henri, and son, Julien's relationship through the years. Henri is dying, Julien is finding it hard to come to terms with this, preparing to say goodbye, they are close, although it has not always been the easiest of relationships. Henri, of Algerian descent, once a baker, is a chef in a rural Eastern French town, having experienced deep poverty and war. He is not the most communicative of men (an understatement), running the Relais Fleuri restaurant, working the demanding long hours, generous and compassionate, which guarantees he will never be wealthy, at least not financially. Julien's mother, Helene, a literature teacher, gives Henri a book for him to write down his prized recipes which had never been written down. When Helene walks out on them, Julien feels a desperate need to get hold of the recipe book, but it has gone missing.

Helene's absence makes itself keenly felt, a ghost that Henri and Julien never forget, Henri never explains why Helene left, leaving Julien bereft, confused with an inner need to know why. Part of their family is Lucien, aka Lulu, Henri's best friend and confidant, they have been together almost all their lives, an essential part of running the restaurant, along with Gaby, his brother, married to his Russian wife, Maria, living a self sufficient life in the forest. Henri, with his ruined cook's hands, has always wanted more for Julien than the hard life he has faced, he wants him to be educated, qualified for a white collar profession, such as an engineer, not for his son the tough life of a chef. Julien cannot remember a time when he didn't have a passion to cook, food the language of love, family, the central and integral tenet in the emotional closeness between father and son. Julien is going to need to be wily, in which he is advised by Gaby, if he going to achieve his dreams.

This is a profoundly moving story of life, love, and passion where food is everything, the food and recipes related with a sensuality, deep understanding and connection with the entire process, from ingredients, right through to presentation, indisputably a labour of love. In a narrative that shifts from the past to the present, we learn of the joy of Julien's first experience of being in charge of cooking at summer camp, right through to learning of a new world of herbs and spices as he works as a commis chef, whilst studying literature. His father eventually reveals family secrets that shake Julien to his core, he learns of why Helene left, while the most tangibly touching part has Henri embody his acceptance of Julien by verbalising the passing of the reins of the family business of food and cooking to his son as the end of his life edges ever closer.

I did not expect to love this as much I did, it is an emotionally immersive read that I found utterly riveting with its stellar characterisation, located in the world of food and its insightful depiction of the love between a father and son in France. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC.

The title suggests a light hearted romance, but this is actually something quite different. Very French - food, love, sadness, a dying father and a missing mother, a life played out through memories of cooking. An unusual and bittersweet read.

I really enjoyed this lovely heartwarming book. The relationship between a father and his son took place against the backdrop of a French restaurant with all its associated colours, smells and sights. Dad is dying at the beginning of the book and his son remembers his upbringing and his growing love of cooking. He finds out secrets from his dad’s and his own past and has to evaluate his relationship anew.

A poignant book - sad because of the lost opportunities to connect but heartwarming as they both accept each other and move forward.

I am by no means a foodie and I thought that to read a book where every page contains descriptions of food and recipes would detract from the narrative and get annoying. However, the story of the relationship between a son and his father and is quite charming, if rather short, and the food aspect is an essential part of this. The author is so passionate about food that he includes several recipes after the epilogue. I have not been converted from a can't be bothered to cook, bring out the fish and chips person, although some of the recipes did make me want to try them.

This is a charming read about a dying father, a Son's memories of growing up surrounded by cooking and the complex relationships within families.

Julien has grown up wondering why his mother left and why his father, Henri, refused to speak of her again. His father is now dying and this book takes us on a journey into the past where Julien looks to get answers, as well as hoping to find the infamous recipe book, gifted to his father by Helene and jealously guarded all these years.

It's an easy read with the delightful addition of some fabulous French recipes at the back.

A perfect gift for a food lover.

3* Good read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the opportunity to preview.

What a beautiful read.

Julien has always wanted to be a chef, just like his father Henri - but his father had greater and more secure ambitions for him. A final reckoning now takes place as Julien talks to his father on his death bed; we go back through their life together, all bound by a wonderful passion for food and taste.

Sad and uplifting in equal measure, I sped through this relatively short read. Delighted to find some recipes at the end too! Highly recommended.

This book is very different to what I was expecting. The title and the cover are misleading in that they lead you to believe that this will be a lighthearted read about French cooking. It is not, it’s a very sad account of the young life of Julien, the death of his father, and his efforts to find out the truth about his upbringing.
I’m sorry to say that I became bogged down in the very detailed descriptions of French cooking methods and recipes, as I have no great interest in cooking personally. That, and the general sadness of Julien uncovering the truth about his past, meant that I was unable to finish the book.
I know that it will appeal to many readers who are also foodies, I’m just sorry that it was not for me.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

What a treat for all lovers of French cooking, a vivid story with the bonus of lovely recipes spiced with a twist of mystery as Julien searches for the elusive leather-bound recipe book on which he pins his hopes that his father's recipes will have been recorded.
A gripping insight into the lives of master baker and chef, Henri and his son Julien whose only aim in life is to emulate his father and become a chef in his own right, totally against his father's wishes.
Jacky Durand brings to life Relais Fleuri, a typical bustling bistro offering honest country cuisine for locals. As the reader we don't have to imagine Relais Fleuri, it feels familiar as you almost smell the rustic food brought to being in the burned hands of Henri, chef patron, with his rough exterior and his burned, calloused hands. It is a poignant and emotional read, a tale of love and commitment and I have not hesitation in recommending it.

Beautifully written with a very unusual theme, it takes.the reader into a professional chef's kitchen where recipes are guarded and other secrets are kept and are difficult to unravel.

Despite the cute title and cover, this is so sad! I boy grows up and wants to cook with his dad. His dad cooks all the time but wants his son to go to school and become something else. He doesn't want him to be like him it seems but why? Why did the boy's mum leave, never to be seen again? When the father dies, the son finds out a lot about what he always wondered and even more about what he never expected.

This novel is so sad! Well written and I hope to try even one of the recipes one day. The story of a son and his parents, his mum AWOL and his father dead - well it was just too much. It got me.

I may come back and appreciate it one day but this just felt raw for now. I loved the way the recipes and the french way of life, a family's past were all merged together. IT's a painful and poignant story.that's for sure. Grab those hankies!

I was so shocked by this book. I actually expected it to be a real recipe book. It isn’t. So please don’t be expecting it to be. To be honest, even though it wasn’t what I expected I still enjoyed it.

Absolutely beautiful story.a tale of a father and a son of life’s choices. A fathers past his desires for his son ,.Setting a French restaurant emotional thoughtful read.A book I will be recommending highly.#netgalley#hodderstoughton