received this book in November 2024 for review and it was hands down the best book I have read all year!

What this book isn’t:
This book is not so much a cookbook, although there are recipes at the end of most chapters, and it's also not a book about eating disorders and the therapy associated with overcoming them.

What this book is:
A therapist writes this book and visits a different patient's session for each chapter. The food elements are either experiences a patient had with someone close to them that revolved around food, or the observations the writer had about food as a metaphor for something happening in the patient’s life.

What made this book fantastic:
This book was emotionally powerful. It is packed full of all the feels, the emotions of love, loss, friendship, compassion and isolation. It was on page 27 I had a realisation about the importance of food on my relationship with my husband, which gave me an early taste of what I would be in for in reading the following chapters. The descriptions are visceral, the flavours and scents of a food environment come off the page and linger in the memory of your senses. The sessions are at times, crushing, but the empathy you feel for the patients is real. She also shares some of her own experiences, not just food but love and life. It takes therapy away from the brazen 'are you shrinking me? comments to the reality which is tactile and empathic, like a real relationship.

Who would enjoy this book:
This book should be a bestseller. I hope it makes it, it deserves it. If you have read and enjoyed Air and Love by Or Rosenboim, you will relate to the vivid storytelling and the recipes that punctuate the end chapters. If you loved Toast by Nigel Slater, you will be touched by the experience and development of each patient session. If you love cooking and want to hear about Nigella and Delia, then these maternal figures will have a hot plate at their table waiting for you.

Indulge in this book. It’s food for the soul.