Funnily enough, I struggled to get into this one which is a tad surprising given the reviews. This wasn't a bad book, it just didn't really hold my attention, the story was a bit drib drab between Eliza the poet and the housemaid Ann who hasn't really read much poetry and is someone I would have considered not to be that well read considering her position, despite being able to read and write, I don't really think that equates to donning yourself as a poet.

This book tends to be more of a historical fictional drama but it always seemed like a draft copy like loose ends need to be tied up. The parts of the book about the food were interesting but that's all for me folks!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in return for my review.

2.5

I greatly enjoyed reading about food. The book is cosy but however I didn't appreciate how there was so little difference in the tones of the poet Eliza and the housemaid Ann who begins to sprout poetry even though she hasn't read many books. Being literate doesn't equate to being well read. The emotions of the characters are also all over the places and a little misleading.

I really enjoyed this delightful book of historical fiction by Annabel Abbs based on the real life Eliza Acton (recipe/food writer and poet) and her kitchen maid/assistant Ann Kirby.

It’s set in Victorian England and mostly centres on their time together in Eliza’s mother’s boarding house in Tonbridge where Eliza was the cook. Over a period of ten years, Eliza and Ann perfected recipes and created a reliable and user-friendly cookbook that could be in family kitchens.

The story gently unfolds with each of the women’s alternating perspectives and personal histories with a ladling of recipes thrown in for good measure.

I think it’s a must-read for any fans of Victorian historical fiction and also all food-lovers.

Prior to reading the book, I had not heard of Eliza Acton and wasn’t aware of the impact her cookbooks had on Victorian kitchens. I had heard of Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management, of which many of Elizabeth’s recipes are reputedly ‘borrowed’.

Huge thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for making this ARC reading copy available to me for a fair and honest review.

A recipe can be as beautiful as a poem.

19th century England. Eliza Acton, aspiring poetess, finds out from her publisher, that poetry isn't for ladies and she should write a cookbook instead. Even though she cannot boil an egg, Eliza accepts the challenge, and tries to learn and write the cookbook which will be understandable and even poetic.

Impoverished seventeen-year-old Ann Kirby starts to work as Eliza's assistant. Although uneducated, she has a remarkable palate and becomes irreplaceable in the kitchen and as Eliza's friend.

The story is enchanting and beautifully written, with interesting recipes and refined narrative. Eliza and Ann are women on a mission, powerful and determined and that was not so easy in times of great social, gender and economic inequality.

Inspiring and comforting.

A charming novel fit for foodies and historical fans alike!
I was intrigued when I learnt that this was based on the life of Eliza Acton and how she produced a fine cookery book in the 19th century that took ten years to write. Her life, and that of her assistant, Ann, was definitely captivating to read and her commitment to stay true to herself was a joy to read.

My thanks to #Netgalley and #SimonSchuster for the opportunity to read this ARC.
I loved this book, beautifully written with recipes that made my mouth water.
It’s a story of two women so different in class and circumstances but with a mutual passion that brings food history to life.
So sad when I turned the last page. I can highly recommend this book.

Beautifully written book, it transports you back to victorian england. Fine writing and beautifully deatiled descriptions make this book a joy to read and also made me hungry! An amazing book. Highly Reccomended. Special shoutout to the cover artist for that cover- it looks amazing.

The Language of Food is an incredible read that combines the delicate, lyrical verse of poetry with the comforts and creativity of recipe creation and food. Annabel Abbs’ research into how cookery books evolved looks into the life of unmarried Eliza Acton, her housemaid and companion Ann Kirby and their journey to create a cookbook that not only contains delicious recipes but is easy to follow for all users of the kitchen.

I’m not going to lie, reading this book made me hungry. The way Abbs describes each dish is, as intended like poetry. Told from two points of view, we as the reader are transported to early Victorian England. The book starts and ends with Ann, yet Eliza Acton is the main focus. It is she after being rejected by her publisher that is the creator of modern cookery books. We are all aware of Mrs Beeton and the popularity of her own cookery book, yet I was amazed to discover that her recipes were not originally written by her.

Despite this, The Language of Food is a sad tale where we discover the realities of mental health, how women are viewed and that the expectations of daughters are crippling. And, yet, Eliza doesn’t care about any of it. Not even when the option for marriage is handed to her on a silver platter. For her, her independence and the ability to make her own choices far outweighs her mother’s desire to see her married. I had a love/hate relationship with Eliza. I found her passion for creative writing and food inspiring, and yet she was oblivious to the realities of those less fortunate to her. This is a product of her comfortable childhood and expensive education.

Poor, destitute and poorly educated, Ann, is all that Eliza is not. After struggling to manage a mother suffering from advanced dementia and other mental illnesses, she is forced to work for the Acton women under the belief that her mother is to be cared for at the new asylum in Kent. What we know now, of asylums is that her mother was not living in luxury with good food, dedicated nurses and regular doctor’s visits and that her death though tragic could have been prevented.

Each recipe was so beautifully crafted and described that it felt like you could taste each ingredient, in the same way, a line of poetry can paint a picture. It also shows just how much work goes into creating a cookery book. They are items that we take for granted for they are all so easily accessible. We, as cooks and readers can go into any shop and pick up a cookbook with ease. Yet, in Victorian England, cookbooks were scarce, and any that were available contained measurements and foods that boggled the mind.

Every page, every line and chapter is infused with the perfumed scent of vanilla, the rich tang of a perfectly crafted gravy and dusted with the finest of powdered sugar. It is a feast for the eyes as well as for the stomach.

If you like historical fictional novels and have a passion for food whether that’s dabbling in the kitchen, or eating out at restaurants, then this is the book for you. I highly guarantee that you will not regret picking up and indulging in this book, just as I have.

This book captured my imagination and took me back to a time when women were trying to make a stand in the world. The story of two women, one smart and inventive and the other, willing to better her life and given the chance to make it. They bond over trying to identify how a recipe needed to be developed and the ways they both achieved success together. So beautifully written and a real joy to read..

This is a fabulous story for lovers of food and historical novels.It’s a “gourmet” combination of an enjoyable storyline with plenty of food information deftly woven in.
The tale is a fictional account of the life of Eliza Acton,the most popular writer of cookery books in the 19th century.Based on detailed research and told with alternating dual narrators we follow the story of Eliza’s journey from poet to cookery writer as well as her relationship with her maid, Anne.
There are so many books set in Victorian times covering so many themes but I especially liked this as the central tenet of food was unusual.

This book is quite interesting in its structure and characters. We follow the situation of two very different women, who get conncted through food and cooking. Each chapter is connected to a recipe and tolf from the perspective of one of the women. Even though they are different and grew up in diffrenet circumstances they show the life of 19th century's women quite well. I liked the way they act and try to overcome the circumstances, but it was very important that it was believable. And that is what the author managed. They are maybe not the typical women of ther time, but their actions and lives are shown the way that you can really imagine it. I liked both the characters and can highly recommend the book!

"The Language of Food" is a brilliant, fictionalised account of the life of Eliza Acton at the time when she was starting to write her ground-breaking cookery book. This book preceded the possibly better known Mrs Beeton but Eliza is more revered by modern cooks and chefs, including Delia Smith.

Set in the 1830/40s, this was a time when Eliza's father became bankrupt and fled the country to escape his debtors. His family had to find ways to survive, which resulted in 2 sisters becoming governesses and Eliza setting up a boarding house with her mother in a rented property in Tonbridge. Having previously been a poetess, Eliza discovers a love for cooking and decides to write a cookery book which is superior to those already in existence. Enter Ann Kirby, a very poor but literate girl who is taken on as a scullery maid. As the relationship of Ann and Eliza progresses so does the cookery book.

The book touches on many social issues of the day including the treatment of women, both married and unmarried, the plight of servants, the rural poor and the insane (including those with dementia), and the wastefulness of the upper and middle classes when those at the lowest levels were starving.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable book, with poetic descriptions of food at its heart. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

This would have to be one of the best books I have read lately. I may be biased as I love history and learning about the ways of life in the past but even more so I love food, love cooking and love cookbooks and recipes. So this book really was right up my alley.

And what a wonderful book it is. Based on the real life of Eliza Acton it follows her story to follow her dreams and become a writer. Not quite the writer she had planned as she really wanted to be a writer of poetry (which she was to a point). She was asked to write a cookbook and so the fun began, buying and reading all manner of cookbooks of the time, hiring an assistant or kitchen hand (being Ann Kirby) and testing, tasting and writing everything that she could so that she could write the best recipes and get women back in the kitchen.

Of course in the times when Eliza Acton was doing this (early - mid 1800's) women of means did not step foot in the kitchen, did not have dreams of fancy (only dreams of marriage and babies) and did not cook! But this became a passion for Eliza and Ann and so the friendship grew as did their personalities.

The story was told in the voice of both Eliza and Ann so we did learn of their lives (past and present), their hardships and heartaches, the differences in their lives and their love of food.

Very well written, poetic in its own right and a book I just didn't want to end. I loved it!

A fascinating book about the cookery writer Eliza Acton. Weaving recipes through the narrative, the book is both thought provoking and original.
The power of food and using seasonal and local ingredients is understood today but this woman was pioneering this movement 200 years ago!
Really an interesting and original book wonderfully written.

Deliciously detailed and utterly thought-provoking, The Language Of Food explores a fictional account of the life of Eliza Action;one of the world’s most successful cookery writers ,who revolutionised cooking and cookbooks around the world.

It’s set in 19th C England, and told from the alternating Voices of Eliza and her assistant,Ann Kirby.

When Poetess,Eliza Acton takes her manuscript of poems to a publisher she’s told “poetry is not the business of a lady.” Instead, they want her to write a cookbook—for that is all they believe readers expect from a woman.

Eliza leaves utterly appalled. but, when her father flees the country due to bankruptcy,she has no choice but to consider the proposal. Never having cooked before in her life,Eliza is determined to learn and in search of an assistant to help her—she hires seventeen year old Ann Kirby, the impoverished daughter of a disabled war veteran father and a mother with dementia.

Over the course of ten years, Eliza and Ann developed an unusual friendship that managed to transcend social classes and divides— breaking the mould for traditional cookbooks and cookery writing forever.

I thought this was a powerfully heartfelt and inspiring story that I enjoyed alot.

The sumptuously detailed descriptions were spectacular and the dual narrative in poverty stricken Ann and well to do Eliza was absolutely perfect—I always enjoy when historical fiction paints a broader picture of life that isn’t portrayed entirely through rose tinted, Jane Austen-esque glasses.

I loved the atmospheric setting and the attention to detail in both the setting, the characters and even the food descriptions, which I thought was just brilliant—you can see the time and effort that went into researching Eliza, her culinary peers and the time period in general.

I really loved how well written the characters were,they certainly felt true to life, Ann and Eliza especially. Ann’s experiences were pretty heartbreaking especially in terms of her mother and discovering the asylum was real (and knowing people actually had to experience it) was genuinely horrifying. Eliza’s experiences, though different from Ann’s were no easier in hardship and I found her just as endearing.

It’s sad to think how incredible a change Eliza made to the processes of cookery in England only for her to have faded into obscurity—and made even sadder still knowing many of her recipes were plagiarised, both during her lifetime and after her death (the most notable and infamous plagiarist being Mrs.Beeton.)

Throughout the book Annabel Abbs also expertly tackles some fairly important topics of the era such as mental health, the limited lives of women and the societal attitudes to class and race (as well as the wealth disparity between the upper and working classes) some of which are still extremely relevant today!

Overall, this was an incredible historical novel that dusts off the legacy of Eliza Acton for a whole new generation—its heartfelt and empowering and I absolutely loved it!

Thanks to Simon&Schuster UK and NetGalley for the ARC.

A fictionalised account of the work and life of Eliza Acton while she wrote her cookery book. The book also focuses upon Ann Kirby. No facts about her are known in real life, beyond that she worked for Eliza and her mother. Ann’s stories help to round out the book and are a very good device to compare and contrast the lives of the rich with the poor. Eliza and her mother’s circumstances have been reduced, but in comparison with Ann and her family they are still extremely well off. These storylines effectively shed some light on how the poor lived, attitudes to mental health and how people were treated. Life in rural communities was not all pretty cottages with roses around the door!

The Language of Food explores women’s lives, their freedoms (or lack of) and limited opportunities to work creatively under their name. I think the author successfully conveys the frustration and difficulties which must have been felt by so many.

And finally of course; the food! Luscious descriptions and well written passages illuminate the process of developing and testing recipes.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, it’s a satisfying read although, as others have mentioned, it does seem to end rather abruptly.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC.

The Language of Food was unexpectedly wonderful. It is the fictional biography of Eliza Acton, the creator of one of the first cookbooks which emphasized quality ingredients and precise ingredients. Her work was plagiarised by Mrs. Beeton and she faded into obscurity. But alongside the character of Eliza is her assistant Anne, the story is also told from her point of view as she struggles with poverty and her responsibility for her mother who has dementia. These scenes were moving and painful. The book is rich with descriptions of food and is a feast for the senses. Even the cover is gorgeous, But is also a story of the relationship between the two women, which develops into a deep love and respect. Thank you to the publishers, the author, and to Netgalley for this ARC.

I honestly found this book really fascinating! It's a great biography/memoir/history books that really delves into the creation of one of the best cooking books of all time. The language really transports you to that time period and the food descriptions at times were so amazingly written that it really evokes your senses.

A celebration of Eliza Acton, poet, playwright, cookery writer – a delicious, charming novel

Having thoroughly loved Abbs’ book about walking women and their art – Windswept, I leapt at being offered The Language of Food, a fictional telling of what is known about the life of the earliest modern style cookery writer – Eliza Acton, whose Modern Cookery for Private Families was first published in 1845, to immediate success, going through many reprints. This was a very practical book, designed not for French cheffery by professional cooks employed in great houses, but for more modest middle class establishments for ‘Young Housewives’ cooking for their families (still possibly with the aid of a kitchen maid)

What was revolutionary about this books was that ingredients and methods were separately set out . Also revolutionary was the clarity and precision of the writing itself

Acton was a poet, and reputedly it was the publisher, Longman’s, who rather dismissively told Acton to go and write a recipe book as ‘female poets’ were unlikely to sell well

Sadly, the cookery name which has come down to most of us from the Victorian Era is Mrs Beeton, from her 1861 Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management. Sadly, because Mrs Beeton, dear reader, was a thief! She stole a large number of recipes, word for word, from Acton’s book with no word of acknowledgement

Abbs – a wonderful writer herself, puts beautiful fictional flesh on the bones of what is known about Acton’s story, focusing on the creation and realisation of recipes, and the writing of the book, carried out by Acton and a young, impoverished girl Ann Kirby, who becomes kitchen maid in the genteel guest house that Eliza and her mother open, following a financial scandal that left them without means, after Mr Acton, Eliza’s father, had to flee the country.

This is such a joyous book – and along the way, so much information about class, eating habits, the limited lives of women, artists, freethinking women, attitudes to race – and so much more – is given, but in a subtle, light-handed way.

Abbs serves up a thoroughly delicious, nutritious and satisfying reading meal. Nothing stodgy, everything savoured, beautifully seasoned. As I reached the final page I had had exactly enough to read, neither too much nor too little. Just perfect

Thank you to Net Galley and to the publisher, for this ARC

This is a must read for historical fiction fans who love to cook and follow recipes . Its based on the true story of Eliza Acton who spent ten years writing her cookery book for the every day kitchen in Victorian England .

The story is told in dual narrative and it be begins in England 1837 .We meet Eliza Acton an inspiring Poet who fails to secure the publication of her poems. Her work was ridiculed and tossed aside. "Poetry is not the business of a lady" The mere suggestion of her writing a cookery book fills her with rage as she feels this is below her capabilities . When her family circumstances suddenly change she moves house with her mother to avoid social humiliation and protect her family name. She will need to find a way to contribute financially to her family whilst keeping her dream of becoming a recognised female author. Perhaps a recipe can be a well written as her poetry.

Seventeen year old Ann Kirby finds herself working alongside Elzia as a scullery maid . All she ever wanted was to cook. The burden of looking after her war crippled father and a mother who is suffering with a mental illness are a constant worry for her. She cannot divulge her family situation in case she loses her cherished positon. Their unusual friendship over the course of ten years results with a cookbook that paved the way for a more user friendly approach to cooking. Today Acton is recognised as one of the greatest cookery writers of her time.

This is a must read page turner about two inspiring women who are brave and endearing in their endeavours. . The author expertly takes us back in time to experience the aromas of beautifully crafted recipes some of which are cited at the end of this gorgeous book.

This is the perfect book club choice and an even better gift to someone special in your life who is a creative foodie and enjoys taking a step back to a begone era .I’ll definitely preorder a hard copy of this one ! Who wouldn't want this beautiful book in their home.

Thank you to Netgallery and Simon and Schuster UK for this wonderful Arc .