Good Taste by Caroline Scott

Struggling writer Stella Douglas has had to return to her home in Yorkshire to be nearer to her recently widowed father. Writing a column for a women's magazine just about pays the bills but Stella relishes researching and writing biographies about 18th century cooks. Unfortunately not everyone is as fascinated by the subjects of these biographies and book sales are low. When her publisher suggests she writes about the history of English food Stella jumps at the chance. Letters fly in from all corners of the country and trips result in her meeting some interesting characters.

Set in 1931, we immediately sympathise with the lead character, Stella, as she has had to leave behind her life in London to return to Yorkshire. London is a heady mix of socialising, restaurants, nightclubs and discovery. By contrast Yorkshire is drab, damp and full of factory chimneys. 

Author Caroline Scott vividly describes Stella's life, from the cramped cottage and it's dank furniture, to her clothes and the food she is writing about. Thanks to these descriptions it is very easy to imagine life between the wars.

There are times when the descriptions are actually a little too much. Since the theme of the novel is the history of English food there are descriptions of meals that have now fallen out of fashion, many of them involving offal. As Stella collects anecdotes from around the country we learn all about "nose to tail" eating. Alongside this we also discover how tiny regional variations exist for some foodstuff such as Eccles cakes.

As Stella is researching recipes we meet some eccentric characters and there's even a little romance thrown in too. 

More than anything though I felt that Good Taste was more a social commentary. Researching 18th century cooks Stella shows how far we have come in our eating habits. But life in 1931 isn't much different to our life today. There's an obvious North/South divide, people are struggling financially with some having to rely on soup kitchens and there is a decline in bakers and butchers shops. There are even complaints that people have forgotten how to cook, having become reliant on modern culinary trends and labour saving devices. We really don't seem to have moved much in 90 years - apart from eating less offal!

Good Taste by Caroline Scott will be published on 13th October 2022 in hardback and ebook format. My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for a review copy.