The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan

 

This is a book about four women living in England during World War 2. Food rationing called for imagination and ingenuity and it was a daily struggle to keep families fed. The Kitchen Front in this story was a BBC program on behalf of the Ministry of Food in which a male presenter gave advice and tips to the housewives of Britain on how best to utilise their rations in food preparation. When the radical idea is floated that maybe a woman should appear on the program occasionally, it is decided to hold a competition to find the best and, of course, the most adaptable (female) British cook whose prize will be a place as co-presenter of The Kitchen Front.

It’s not a light and fluffy story. The four lead characters, Audrey, Gwendoline, Zelda and Nell, personify the struggles and hardships endured by those who stayed at home through those terrible years. So many women were left alone to raise children while dealing with grief over the loss of a husband to the war; there was the ongoing pre-war discrimination against women; there was class discrimination and the hidden shame of domestic violence, and also judgmental attitudes towards those who stepped outside the perceived bounds of the morality of the day.

On the other side of the coin it’s a story celebrating endurance in the face of adversity; friendship; inclusivity; bravery, compassion and love. There are recipes from that time dotted throughout the book using wartime rations of which I, as someone who has never mastered the art of cooking, stand in awe.

All in all, a lovely, heartfelt book which will stay with me for a long time. I congratulate Jennifer Ryan on a 5/5 star read.

Published by Macmillan