Food for thought

It’s Big Read review time! Find out what members thought about the 2022 list, with its themes of food and the USA

Becoming Michelle Obama

All those of us who read this book enjoyed it immensely, particularly one of us. Here is her review:

I read Becoming earlier this year for my book group. I am not generally a fan of biographies and autobiographies, which I tend to treat with a large pinch of salt. However, I absolutely loved this book.

If getting into recovery has taught me anything, it’s that it’s never too late to start again, and that the next biggest barrier to a successful life isn’t just the addiction but overcoming the shame and stigma that surrounds it, particularly for women. It awakened my courage, taught me to take calculated risks, and to not be afraid of the outcome. As women, we are still told we can’t. That is rubbish. I always thought that 50 was too old to start something new, but I jumped at the chance to take voluntary redundancy and start my own business, and I’m pleased to say, I’m loving every moment of it. I’m working online as a psychotherapist with clients all over the world, helping them get well. I’m also working face-to-face as an addictions counsellor in treatment centres, and I’m speaking about my experiences to help others find their own courage to face their demons.

I am unflinching in owning my own lived experience to help others. In the post-truth world that we now find ourselves in, I have discovered that people value and respond to living authentically. Fear has left me—for today, at least. Those days have added up to over 15 years in continuous recovery from active alcoholism. My three young boys have grown into the most amazing young men, and I’ve been able to enjoy every minute of that time (mostly!)—because I’ve been sober.

Anna Elston is an Addictions Counsellor, Psychotherapist and Public Speaker. www.annaelston.com

I liked what I had seen of Michelle Obama when she was First Lady, although I didn’t know much about her, and her book confirmed my admiration. I was expecting it to be about her time at the White House, but to learn about her whole life was inspiring. Beautifully written in a warm and honest style, it tells about her family and the deep affection they all have for each other; how her own parents encouraged their children and made sacrifices to enable them to have a decent education; and her father’s determination not to let his MS prevent him from working and enjoying personal life. Michelle never saw herself as disadvantaged—her determination to succeed as a black woman in a white world was strong and she did her best in everything she attempted, and with great success.

By her own admission, she didn’t really like politics and wasn’t at all keen to see her husband becoming president.

But once in a position of influence, she devoted a lot of time and energy to helping the more vulnerable ethnic groups, particularly black communities. She comes across as a warm, caring but strong-willed person who found her own ways to start worthwhile projects: from her allotment on the South Lawn to helping to feed the needy, and the campaign to fight child obesity. She valued her children and family life above all, and worried about the negative effect that living in the White House would have on her two young daughters. However, she found ways around those concerns: for example, the housekeepers were told to let the girls make their own beds and tidy up their rooms. New rules were agreed with the Secret Service agents so that, as the girls grew up, they could each lead as normal a life as possible and avoid ideas of grandeur.

Above all, Michelle Obama greatly loved and admired her husband and made sure her own projects neither clashed nor interfered with the affairs of state, while giving him the support he needed.

Readers are also given insight into the little things that happen inside the White House. I particularly liked hearing that she and Barack regularly enjoyed “date nights”. And I admired her honesty when she admitted that she didn’t like the Trumps, though convention demanded that they invite them to the White House just before Trump took over as president.

Wantage NWR

Pomegranate Soup Marsha Mehran

The reviews at the start of this book describe it as charming, delightful and wonderful, but they make no reference to the reasons why the main characters, three sisters, left Iran and then London in the 1980s to set up the Babylon Café in a small town in County Mayo, or to their ongoing struggles with memories of trauma, which form the background to their new lives. Like the sisters, Marsha Mehran had fled war-torn Iran to finally settle in Western Ireland. Although this is a story of good against evil, it flows in a light, bright manner with plenty of humour, and includes the author’s homage to the splendour of Persian heritage, especially its storytelling, family values and—cookery!

Each chapter is named after a recipe which is relevant to it, and begins with a list of ingredients; readers can find the recipes themselves at the end of the book.

The story opens with the contrasting positive energy of the newcomers to Ballinacroagh and the negative prejudice of embittered locals, who want the incomers to leave. As the sisters busy themselves preparing to open their café, to “provide ambrosial food and neat cosy rooms,” their neighbour and drink baron Thomas McGuire is enchanted by “sensuous wafts of cardamon, cinnamon and rosewater” which he considers “pure witchcraft”! Supported by his deplorable son Tom Junior, he greedily wants to acquire the property and add a nightclub—Polyester Paddy’s—to his empire of pubs. Along the road, malicious gossip Dervla spies on the sisters. Neither realise how the sisters will work their magic on the community. Luckily, lively Italian widow, Estelle Delmonico already supports her tenants’ wonderful transformation of the bakery, which she formerly ran with her husband.

The eldest sister Marjan, 27, is protective, compassionate and loves growing things, especially herbs. She notices that the differences between her sisters are marked in how they each roll dolmehs (stuffed vine leaves). Sensitive, anxious Bahar, 24, is briskly successful, whereas optimistic Layla, 15, with her “hopeful aura”, is carefree—and faulty— though hers always carry her “signature scent of rosewater and cinnamon”.

On the second day of opening the Babylon Cafe, Marjan welcomes their first visitor, merry Father Mahoney, who finds their wall tapestry “extraordinary”, and has never tasted anything as “divine” as abgusht stew! He is enchanted and consequently, the café is soon a success. Layla in turn is enchanted by Malachy McGuire, as different to his father and brother as chalk to cheese—devoted to astronomy and Layla. They take the leading roles in a play to be performed alongside the festivities accompanying the annual July pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick in honour of Saint Patrick, the “saviour of the heathen Irish”.

However, following the various successes, the threatening elements of the story culminate in crises, which bring out the best and the worst in the characters.

Our group found the concluding chapters somewhat unsatisfying concerning the resolution of Tom Junior’s character—an occasional lack of credibility during the story seemed to come to a head here. Future readers might consider the influence of Persian storytelling upon the author!

Nevertheless, Pomegranate Soup is an enjoyable page-turner, which celebrates the sisters’ individual abilities to adjust to their new lives and to integrate well. Significantly, to Iranians the pomegranate is traditionally the fruit of hope. The story has the feel-good factor!

Wantage NWR

Wilding Isabella Tree

Our Wantage bookseller was so taken by this book that she visited Knepp, in Sussex, to see for herself. Our group was also impressed, and gained so much understanding of the great importance of such a Noah’s Arks of biodiversity.

Along with other open spaces where nature has free rein, the soil at Knepp is healthy, as are the grazing animals, the meat which is produced, and the abundance of wildlife. It is an example of how 3,500 acres can be positively transformed in a few years: a beacon of hope, compared with which much of Britain “seems a desert”. Since the first world war, a vast amount of meadows, forests and hedges have been lost, along with natural habitats, and crops have been sprayed with artificial fertilisers, weed killers, fungicides, insecticides and growth hormones, which have further decreased wildlife.

In 1987, when Isabella’s husband Charlie Burrell inherited Knepp, it made no profit. He farmed intensively, installing a centralized milking and feeding area that could be run by two men, and produced ice cream and yoghurts. However, eventually Charlie was forced to make great changes. In 2000, facing a £1.5m overdraft, they sold their stock and farm machinery, and sought advice. Particularly helpful were soil and tree specialist Ted Green of Windsor Great Park, and Frans Vera, a Dutch ecologist who has written about the positive effects of grazing.

Called in to advise on the Knepp oaks, Ted Green saw that they were suffering due to disturbed and depleted soil; years of ploughing and spraying with artificial chemicals had destroyed natural nutrients, crucially mycorrhizae. These form a web like communication system which attaches itself to roots, extending, hydrating and protecting them. Also important is their contribution to the storage of carbon, preventing its rise into the atmosphere. Charlie and Isabella decided to rewild Knepp. Frans Vera’s influence led to their introduction of grazing animals—fallow deer, longhorn cows, Exmoor ponies and Tamworth pigs, in gradually increasing numbers.

In 2002, Charlie wrote a letter of intent to Natural England. He would establish a biodiverse wilderness; it would be a 25-year experiment. The project now has Countryside Stewardship funding together with support from conservationists, ecologists, naturalists and landowners.

Even by the third year, there was a tremendous transformation—we feel Isabella’s delight! Artificial chemicals are leaving the soil; natural growth is richer; there is an abundance of wild flowers and insects. Prickly shrubs proliferate, providing habitats and protection for saplings. Birds and bats increase; cows suckle calves as long as they need to. “As the land relaxed, so did we.” Meanwhile, local farmers were affronted. Here in picture postcard Sussex, the pride and joy of the Burrell family was turning into wasteland; it “looked like the farmer had died”!

On a lighter note, animals left to themselves can be “hilariously destructive”! Enter Duncan, the Exmoor colt, who would challenge riders on the estate and gallop through spectators onto the polo field to investigate “his strange cousins chasing a ball”. Then there were the two Tamworth pigs which could “spot a marquee a mile away”. Avoiding electric fencing, they swam across the pond to hoover down two sacks of ice cream powder and two trays of onion bhajis!

Isabella Tree sees the project as a focal point in relation to today’s pressing problems of climate change, soil regeneration, food quality, crop pollination, animal welfare and human health. Knepp now has a visitor centre so that people can see the results of rewilding for themselves, and the farm shop sells Knepp Wild Range meat.

During our discussion, we learned that one of us used to farm with her husband, so had considerable insight into the business of farming. She, and all of us, wondered about lack of income for Charlie and Isabella, despite funding, as they embarked upon this project. We acknowledged that far too much food is wasted; and we value the choice of local organic, free-range meat, fruit and vegetables that we have. However, since Wilding was published, thousands of houses have been added to this area— what an impact on the wildlife, and what a reminder of the need for more biodiverse areas.

Wantage NWR

Five Quarters of the Orange

Joanne Harris

Chandlers Ford D NWR decided to read this book as a whole group. Overall, we enjoyed it, although one or two were less keen. We did agree that it was very well written and a bit of a page turner. Below is my personal review.

I read this in June while in the French mountains and, as the story is set in occupied France in the small town of Les Laveuses in the Loire region, I could identify with the French way of life and felt immersed in the story. I found no evidence that this village exists and the name is likely derived from the oil painting of washerwomen by Daubigny.

As for the title, I think the five quarters (a mathematical impossibility) refers to the missing Tomas, or perhaps it’s to do with children’s logic, illustrating their ability to blend fact with fiction.

The author’s novels all seem to have a link to food which I think is her way of giving a sensual experience. It works well—we all have links with food! Even the three Dartigen children have fruity names. Framboise is the main character and the book switches in time between the present day when she returns anonymously to the village from which she was banished in WW2, and her life there as a child. In this story, thanks to the writer’s skill in creating a scene that you feel a part of, this time travelling, so common and often confusing in books, works well.

I felt there were some parallels with To Kill a Mocking Bird, but the book is essentially original and at times both tragic and hilarious. Framboise soon realises that we cannot separate ourselves from the past and eventually it rears up to get her. I found her character very appealing, especially as the very determined child trying to catch the mother pike. She would not give up, though her eventual success was the start of her downfall. The innocence and naivety of youth are portrayed so well.

Mirabelle, the migraine suffering mother is, at times, cruel and neglectful, but also loving. It is only when Framboise tries to recreate her mother’s recipes from an old handwritten recipe book that she starts to learn about the secrets hidden in code between the words. Her childhood crush on the German soldier feels tragic against the suggested relationship between her mother and this same man. Tomas himself is a tragic figure of an innocent soldier with conflicted loyalties, just wanting to befriend the children and have a bit of fun.

The other character who deserves a mention is the apparent simpleton who remains a loyal friend to Framboise all her life and, in fact, turns out to be a welcome observer of the truth. His love for her is life affirming.

There is so much in this book: coming of age, mental health, love, family ties, betrayal and divided loyalties. I had not wanted to read it—I know not why—but I’m glad I did, and it has remained with me.

Sally Child Chandlers Ford D NWR

The Edible Woman Margaret Atwood

Of the 13 of Deepings Group members who met to discuss this book, six had read it all, two had not read it and five had read part of it but had given up through lack of interest. The initial majority view was that it was perplexing and disappointing. Where was the strong characterisation, intriguing plot and inspiring writing of the Margaret Atwood we associate with her later work? Most of those who had read all or part of it gave it between 4/10 and 6.5/10, while one person gave it an eight or nine. Would our familiar, lively book review discussions lead to new insights and a change of view?

The main character, Marian, is stuck in a boring job where health and safety is nonexistent—a young female sent out alone into the homes of complete strangers to get their views as consumers? It wouldn’t happen now. Think Suzy Lamplugh. Her unlikely housemate Ainsley is obsessed with becoming a single mother at any cost. What was that all about? Marian’s boyfriend Peter is a more recognisable stereotype of a young, dominant, American male, whose fond memories of hunting down game in his youth appeared to segue into his relationship with the bright but needy Marian. We found these three main characters hardly believable and the rest of the cast even less so, particularly the grotesque Duncan and his weird mates. We agreed we had failed to like the characters or care about them very much, which is never a recipe for a page-turner.

The high score for the book came from a member who had read it when she was 20; the rest of us, mostly in our late 60s and early 70s, did not connect with it in the same way. We felt it was a book of its time, written by 24 year old Atwood in 1965 and her first book, and that it reflected a consumerist Canadian culture. Society, attitudes and life for women has changed a great deal, we felt, and it was difficult to relate to much of the content. Had we all needed to be the girlfriend of a chap of some sort in our late teens/early 20s, afraid of being “left on the shelf”? Maybe we had all