The Kitchen Front

This was yet another fine historical fiction piece by master storyteller, Jennifer Ryan (author of The Chilbury Ladies Choir). The story was set in an English country village during World War II. Ryan has done a yeoman's amount of research and cleverly put forth a story which is engaging, informing and heartwarming.

During WWII and beyond, housewives were challenged with a need and desire to feed their families tasty and nutritious meals utilizing meager food rations. In an effort to provide some guidance, The Kitchen Front radio program was designed to help the less creative cook put their best foot forward in the kitchen. Recognizing the need for a "woman's touch" to be included in the program in order to reach the listenership, a show more cooking competition was devised to which four village cooks/chefs applied. Although the competition provided the basic structure for the story, it was the interplay among contestants which really spoke to the heart of the book.

Through this story of loss, hardship, austerity and clever pluckiness, one gains a whole new level of respect for those left at home during the war years. These folks tirelessly put their best faces on and plowed forward through each and every day's challenges. The story shares some of the clever techniques utilized to create mock foods or provide substitutes for highly limited staples rations. For the referenced food dishes, recipes have been included. Just reading the recipes alone is fascinating in and of itself.

The real gem of the entire story is the spectacular character building and interplay among the four contestants. Personally, I was moved by it while rooting for each of the characters knowing that only one could win. Each character is strong in her own way, whether or not they recognize it in themselves. Each has a rich story and has their own specific challenges to overcome.

Sure, there are lots of stories about the military and spies during the war years. Yet there are so few told of how those left at home managed through it all. This book brings the lives of those keeping the home fires burning to the hearts and minds of us readers. It's definitely a tale worth telling and this reader is grateful to Ms. Ryan for bringing it to our hearts.

I am grateful to publisher Ballantine Books for having provided a complimentary advance uncorrected proof of this book through Goodreads. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone. show less

NPR:On 'The Kitchen Front,' 4 Women Cook Their Way To Victory
February 24, 20217:00 AM ET
Maria Godoy at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., May 22, 2018. (photo by Allison Shelley) (Square)
Maria Godoy

The Kitchen Front, by Jennifer Ryan
Ballantine Books
War is hell. But it's also pretty crummy on the homefront — especially if you're a woman with few options (read, a woman) in World War II-era England. But what if you could cook your way to a better life?

That's the basic premise of The Kitchen Front, the third novel from Jennifer Ryan, and the third to be set in England during World War II. As in her best-selling The Chilbury Ladies' Choir, the story concerns itself with the struggles and resilience of village women, but this time show more around, the action revolves around a cooking competition.

It's 1942, and Britain is reeling from the hardships of war. German U-boats are cutting off food imports, and women are being urged to keep calm and carry on in the kitchen. That isn't easy when staples like butter, sugar, cheese, eggs, milk and meats are being rationed. (You know it's bad when even tea is in short supply for the Brits.)

To help housewives get creative with limited ingredients, the BBC runs a radio program called The Kitchen Front — hosted by a man. The Beeb decides the show needs a woman's touch, so it launches a three-part cooking contest, and the winner will become the new female co-host.

A Blitz Of Mother Love In 'Spies Of Shilling Lane'
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A Blitz Of Mother Love In 'Spies Of Shilling Lane'
For the four competitors, the stakes are high (and the steaks, hard to come by.) First, there is Audrey, a war widow with three children to raise, a dilapidated home and a mountain of debt who is barely scraping by with her pie business. Also in the running is her estranged sister, Gwendoline, a snobbish social climber whose marriage to a wealthy factory owner is not all it appears to be. Then there's Zelda, an unmarried, London-trained chef resolved to claw her way to the top of a male-dominated profession — with a secret pregnancy that could derail everything. And finally Nell, an orphaned kitchen maid with more talent than faith in herself.

When we first meet our contenders, it may seem obvious who we're supposed to root for. But as the story unfolds, Ryan peels back the layers of her main characters like an onion, revealing each to be multidimensional, flawed but compelling in her own way.

To help housewives get creative with limited ingredients, the BBC runs a radio program called The Kitchen Front — hosted by a man. The Beeb decides the show needs a woman's touch, so it launches a three-part cooking contest, and the winner will become the new female co-host.

A Blitz Of Mother Love In 'Spies Of Shilling Lane'
Books
A Blitz Of Mother Love In 'Spies Of Shilling Lane'
For the four competitors, the stakes are high (and the steaks, hard to come by.) First, there is Audrey, a war widow with three children to raise, a dilapidated home and a mountain of debt who is barely scraping by with her pie business. Also in the running is her estranged sister, Gwendoline, a snobbish social climber whose marriage to a wealthy factory owner is not all it appears to be. Then there's Zelda, an unmarried, London-trained chef resolved to claw her way to the top of a male-dominated profession — with a secret pregnancy that could derail everything. And finally Nell, an orphaned kitchen maid with more talent than faith in herself.

When we first meet our contenders, it may seem obvious who we're supposed to root for. But as the story unfolds, Ryan peels back the layers of her main characters like an onion, revealing each to be multidimensional, flawed but compelling in her own way.

To help housewives get creative with limited ingredients, the BBC runs a radio program called The Kitchen Front — hosted by a man. The Beeb decides the show needs a woman's touch, so it launches a three-part cooking contest, and the winner will become the new female co-host.

A Blitz Of Mother Love In 'Spies Of Shilling Lane'
Books
A Blitz Of Mother Love In 'Spies Of Shilling Lane'
For the four competitors, the stakes are high (and the steaks, hard to come by.) First, there is Audrey, a war widow with three children to raise, a dilapidated home and a mountain of debt who is barely scraping by with her pie business. Also in the running is her estranged sister, Gwendoline, a snobbish social climber whose marriage to a wealthy factory owner is not all it appears to be. Then there's Zelda, an unmarried, London-trained chef resolved to claw her way to the top of a male-dominated profession — with a secret pregnancy that could derail everything. And finally Nell, an orphaned kitchen maid with more talent than faith in herself.

When we first meet our contenders, it may seem obvious who we're supposed to root for. But as the story unfolds, Ryan peels back the layers of her main characters like an onion, revealing each to be multidimensional, flawed but compelling in her own way.

The novel is structured around the three rounds of the competition. Each round takes place once a month and offers an opportunity for ingenuity and intrigue. (What can I say? Cheaters gonna cheat.) Ultimately, though, this is less a wartime version of Cutthroat Kitchen than what I think of as "the sisterhood of the travelling pans:" a heartwarming story of four women determined to make their own way in the world, who find unexpected friendship — and strength — in each other.

Though the story can at times dip into the treacly, Ryan knows how to keep the pace moving, with subplots involving a handsome, caddish chef, an abusive husband and a romance with a prisoner of war. The end result is a charming tale that will satiate a lot of different tastes: historical fiction lovers, cooking competition fans, anyone who revels in girl-power lit. There are even ration-era recipes for food history geeks like yours truly (though I can't say I'm tempted to try whale meat pie anytime soon).

Toss it all together and you've got a comfort-food read I gobbled right up. It seems fitting that I finished reading the final pages while chopping celery for mirepoix in my kitchen — this story had me so hooked, I literally couldn't put it down to cook. show less

The Kitchen Front begins in 1942 and follows the lives of four women. Audrey has been widowed by the war, has three young sons and lives in the ramshakle house she grew up in. Because she grows vegetables and herbs, raises chickens for eggs and forages for berries and mushrooms, she is able to sell baked goods and fresh produce from her kitchen, just barely providing for the four of them.

While Audrey struggles, her sister Gwendoline, lives large in Fenley Hall. She is married to the wealthiest man in the area and takes full advantage of his standing in the community. During the war she sees it as her duty to work for the Food Ministery, often giving demonstrations to housewives on how to prepare healthy meals while complying with food show more rationing. Meanwhile she and her husband secretly obtain whatever they want on the black market and though Gwendoline can cook, she doesn't. While she appears strong in public, in private she is bullied and abused by her husband.

Nell works as a kitchen maid in the Fenley Hall kitchen. She grew up in an orphanage and has little confidence in herself. The cook she works under, Mrs. Quince, is legendary as a cook and sees much more in Nell than Nell sees in herself. In fact, though Nell doesn't realize it, Mrs. Quince sees her young self in Nell.

Zelda is head chef of the staff canteen at Finley Pie Canteen. After years of proving herself over and over, she had been employed two years as deputy to the head chef at the prestigious Darlington Hotel before it was destroyed in the blitz. Now she has been assigned by the conscription office to this humilating job and desperately unhappy, takes it out on everyone she meets. An even greater worry is that she is pregnant, deserted by the child's father.

When the BBC announces it is seeking contestants for a cooking competition in the Finley area, all five (Nell and Mrs. Quince together) enter. The contest takes place one night a month for three months. Who wins and what happens in the women's private lives during the competition is the basis of the book.

There are a couple of things I didn't like, the "bad" people are rather stereotypical and I often knew where the plot was leading but I loved the cooking aspect. Ryan clearly researched cooking, food rationing and the scarcity of food during the war and in this novel has written a factual account of what home cooks went through trying to provide for their families. Each chapter focuses on a character and a recipe is given at the end of the chapter. show less

Another treat from Jennifer Ryan. She is my new favorite. I really loved this, because I have always wanted a recipe for whale lard (LOL - just kidding. Yes, there's a whale lard recipe. No, I don't want it!).

Actually, I enjoyed this because, as was the case in The Chilbury Ladies Choir (fabulous!), her writing is beautiful, evocative, so poignant, and moves like a dream. In The Kitchen Front, Ms. Ryan has created well-nuanced characters, and I most especially appreciate her meticulous research into this understated but critically important part of life in Britain during WWII.

This is NOT a romance novel (in fact, hardly any romance at all). Instead, it's historical fiction in honor of strong women and the power and complexities of show more friendship.

If you are sick of dark and twisted suffering in fiction, get a breath of fresh, clean air -- devoid of saccharine, but a perfect hint of sweetness just the same. show less

I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

This book is essentially the Great British Bake Off against the tumultuous backdrop of World War II. Despite the deaths and darkness lurking just off scene, this is an incredibly heartwarming, affirming read (not unlike GBBO as a show) about the bonds of sisterhood and found-families. I blazed through in a little over a day. Yes, the book is corny in some ways. Yes, the ending is so perfect it feels contrived. But you know what? The end of 2020 calls for fuzzy, cozy books like this.

The Kitchen Front follows four very different women: a widowed mother trying to scrape by with her gardening and pies; her estranged sister, a 'Lady' by marriage whose snobbery masks painful secrets; an orphaned young show more woman with a terrible stammer and bright dreams; and a Cordon Bleu-trained chef hiding her pregnancy but not her bitterness toward a cruel man's world.

These four women become competitors in a cooking contest to become co-host of a BBC radio programme to help housewives use their rations and support the war effort. The characterizations are fun--it's an expected ensemble cast--and the author's research in the setting is incredible. As a foodie and passionate home baker, I loved finding out more about how rations worked (and didn't work) during the war. The author has included authentic recipes throughout as well, though I don't think I'm daring enough to try them--though it is quite something to discover the ins and outs of cooking with whale steak!

Really, this book is corny, fun, and enlightening, a read I highly recommend for lovers of historical fiction and food history. show less

Fantastic book, and well-plotted, with characters so vivid they seem to leap off the page. I enjoyed every moment of this story, and watching the four main characters grow and change was delightful. Some other good things:
• The book centers on shortages and rationing, an aspect of WWII with which I was largely unfamiliar. (How does one even write a WWII novel? What's left to talk about? Well, this, apparently. Educational, and it stands out sharply from the sea of other WWII novels.)
• The supporting characters. The teenage son, the elderly cook, the MIA RAF husband—I don't read a lot of books with characters like these, and it was nice to see them here.
• The recipes! Don't know if I'll try them, but they were fun to imagine.
show more • The poignant moments. It would be easy for the dramatic moments to be overblown, but these were not. Beautiful, powerful, and unutterably sad at times.
• The tone: Not bleak. It was even hopeful.
I would recommend this for anyone who is interested in historical fiction, particular with regard to the home front and the families of soldiers who have gone to fight. show less

THE KITCHEN FRONT by Jennifer Ryan
This is a different take on WWII! Because food rationing is making it hard to prepare meals, the BBC holds a contest for a co-host for its cooking program. The prize will be a way for the winner to change her family’s life for the better. Unfortunately, the current host is not in favor of sharing his position. The rationing makes developing palatable recipes a unique challenge as well. The recipes are included in the novel along with the machinations the contestants (and host!) engage in.
A thoroughly enjoyable book -- although the same can’t be said for some of the recipes! Engaging, well -developed characters, believable situations and an interesting concept make this novel a winner.
5 of 5 stars