This dual-perspective historical fiction features two women beginning a journey in food appreciation, a solid friendship, and independence during a time of strict societal rules restrictions. Each women comes from different social classes and faced adversity in different ways. This book really shows how cookbook compilations came about and how one's aspirations are shaped during the Victorian period. It brings a tasteful depiction of a historical figure with little information known. It also makes a fictional prediction of the assistant that helped the historical figure and a perspective that brings a broader view in this little tidbit of history. Though as a personal preference I would have liked some more details in some parts of the story. Overall it's definitely an interesting read.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions and thoughts in the review are my own.**

"A recipe can be as beautiful as a poem."

Miss Eliza's English Kitchen: A Novel of Victorian Cookery and Friendship by Annabel Abbs is based on the true story of the first modern cookery writer and her assistant. The pleasures and solace from food bring together two women - one from wealth and the other a peasant. The ways at which recipes are read today are based on their cookery book from the 1800's known as the "Greatest British Cookbook of ALL Time."

Culinary and historical fictions fans delight as this novel is filled with savory aromas and tastily written. This novel was named Country Living Best Book of Fall!

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks for the complimentary copy.
Published, November 16, 2021

#misselizasenglishkitchen #annabelabbs #bibliolifestyle #netgalley

This is a lovely story loosely inspired by real life that talks about cooking and cooking books back in the 1800s when women weren’t allowed to be cooks and the books had basically no structure to them. So Miss Eliza, an unmarried poet, decides to write a cooking book using a better and more precise language. This is actually pretty interesting, and reminded me a lot of the tv show Downton Abbey. Chapters alternate the point of view of Eliza, and Ann, her apprentice.

I received email from Good Housekeeping that this was the Book Club Book for November -
I did some checking- saw also it is the "Country Living BEST Book of Fall!"
I have to read this...

Before Julia Child there was Eliza Acton!!
Based on the true story of the first modern cookery writer

Travel back to London England in 1835
Two ladies from very different lives; both searching for something,
meet and start working together
Eliza has run out of options, teaches herself to cook and uncovers a talent with food.
A recipe is like a poem.

Eliza is the first to decide to list ingredients separately - in a list
and to give the cooking times in the recipe.
Courageous women - we need to know these stories and honor their history!

Anyone who has read a cookbook and imagined making every recipe (and tasting it all!)
needs this book.

I’m a foodie and a historical fiction fan, and I’d never heard of Eliza Acton, so this was a fun read for me! We begin with Eliza - a young woman by modern standards, but an old maid by Victorian ideals. She wants to be a published poet, as both an outlet for her creativity and ambition and as a way to help her family financially. We also meet poor Ann Kirby, a child desperately trying to manage the needs of her mentally ill mother and her physically disabled father. Circumstances bring these two together, and they embark on a mission to jointly produce “a cookery book” for the housewives of Britain.

I enjoyed reading about their experiments with food and developing and testing recipes. Oddities to our modern palates - like Roast Calves Liver with Lemon Pickle and Swans Egg en Salade - were fascinating to read about. Both characters grow and mature through their experiences, and become more assertive in ways that seem true to the time period.

My only complaint would be the ending - storylines were wrapped up quickly with scant detail in the epilogue. It’s as if the author simply tired of writing and called it quits.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow/HarperCollins for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dickinsonian England and an Empowered Woman
This story is the fictionalized life of the Victorian woman who wrote the first book of English recipes that were both nutritious and tasty. I have previously read a history of how the fuel supply changed cooking in Britain. These two go hand in hand and the subject is brought up in this book. Essentially, having a solid fuel supply like coal enabled the everywoman to cook things that need a stable heat like breads and desserts. And this cookbook tied these together by giving the everywoman recipes with weights and measures that made these dishes come out consistently wonderful. The story of her life is that of a gentlewoman choosing her calling as a writer and cook over her desire for marriage or motherhood. Both she and her skilled kitchen helper tested and tasted recipes for 10 years in order to write this book. They experimented with spices and herbs to find the perfect flavor balance in the dishes. The story also shows the societal differences between the haves and have-nots, and between men and women. Society provided a scaffolding of strict rules that had to be followed lest one be through from society. Offenses such as poaching a rabbit from the Lord when you had a starving family or even the offense of mental illness could throw entire families out of society and perhaps cost them their livelihood and even their life. This is a fascinating book that will remain in my mind for a long time. It may be fictionalized, but it is so truthful! I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

Excellent fictionalized account of Eliza Acton and her exceptional cookbook

I enjoyed this fictionalized account of Eliza Acton, who wrote a much-respected and needed cookbook in Victorian London in the early 1800s.

In her mid-thirties and unmarried, Acton wanted to be a poet but, because of financial reasons, found herself compiling a cookbook for normal women rather than chefs. She was aided by young Ann Kirby, a poor young girl with a crippled father and a mother with dementia that Acton took under her wing and learned much from.

This was a great historical novel about unlikely friendships, lots of cooking, and hardships in Victorian England. I enjoyed it very much and highly recommend it.

I received this book from Custom House Books (William Morrow Books) through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

3 stars
A decent book. The story was good but the characters just did not seem to be fully developed. I was hoping for more.

Enjoyable for the characters and historical detail, but the pacing was off. Readers will enjoy the dual narrators and their differing interpretations of the same events. The first and last chapter, which take place 10 years after the majority of the book, hint at larger events that deserved to be in the story, not just mentioned in passing.

Plenty here for book groups to discuss.

Thank you to the publishers at William Morrow and Custom House and Netgalley for this e-ARC of Miss Eliza’s English Kitchen!

This was such a delightful story about two women from extremely different backgrounds who come together to create a world famous cookery book.

Miss Eliza is an unmarried woman at 36 still living with her wealthy family. She enjoys writing poetry and would rather focus on making something out of her name than spend her days trying to find a suitor. Ann Kirby, on the other hand, is a girl of 17 from a pauper family. Her mother has lost her mind, her one legged father drinks instead of trying to find work, and her only surviving sibling has gone away to London to work in a master kitchen at a gentlemen’s club.

These women end up meeting in the unlikeliest of ways and forming a friendship that others wouldn’t understand. As they work together on their book of recipes, we see them use their imaginations to the fullest while also letting their creativity flow over into their unique dishes.

I loved every bit of this story. It felt so raw and real, and seeing as how it’s based on two real women, I like how they were made into people I could imagine knowing and being friends with once upon a time. I also enjoyed the recipes and poetry intermingled within the plot. I oftentimes felt so hungry and jealous of the delicious food they were creating in their kitchen! I highly recommend this story to people who love food, Victorian England, and historical fiction.

Miss Eliza’s English Kitchen releases October 26th!

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book is like warm comfort food and a great big hug. And even though there aren't any recipes listed within the book, you feel and taste and smell the comfort of food and the people who create it contained within.

Annabel Abbs story is told from Eliza and Ann's perspectives. In the 1800s England, theres a class system, a time of expectations for women. The individual stories of past history and future expectations for both Eliza and Ann are well written. The reader can't help feel for Elizas dream of having her name published, but dealing with her mother's beliefs on her spinsterhood or the deep poverty and family woes for Ann.

This is a journey of friendship, of knowing your capabilities and not letting society put a wall up preventing you from realizing that goal. I loved every minute reading this book. Imagine sitting in a kitchen listening to the chef as she concocts a new recipe. Imagine listening to the household as it talks about guests and staff behind their backs. And imagune not only those delicious smells, but the wondrous tastes of that food as it's presented at your table - this is the feeling you get page after page.

For those who love Downton Abbey or Upstairs Downstairs, this is the book for you. Mrs. Beetons Cookery book had over 900 pages. Abbs really helps you understand the joy and tiresome work that went into the minute details of each recipe. I truly hope this book gets picked up for a tv series. It's something I would truly enjoy!

Thank you netgalley for this arc. This is a book I will not forget!

The story of two real-life women who together create a cookbook at a time when women were not expected to even venture into the kitchens. Eliza Acton and Ann Kirby become unlikely friends and brought forth the first cookery book for private homes. They were the first to list ingredients as well as cooking times. Later their work would be ‘borrowed’ for Mrs. Beeton’s cookbook.

The year is 1837 and Eliza Acton has no desire to be anyone’s wife. She is a poet. A very determined poet. But when her book of poems is rebuffed by her publisher, she is crushed. Especially when he suggests she write a cookery book. Eliza is furious. But then things go awry in her family with her father losing everything and fleeing the country. Leaving his wife to depend on Eliza alone to restore the family’s wealth.

As her mother leases a boarding house, Eliza needs to learn to cook. As she collects recipes she finds that she loves cooking. The flavors blending like poetry itself. But she needs help.

17-year-old Ann Kirby has lived in poverty and uncertainty her entire life. Her mother is supposedly mad and is put in an insane asylum without her knowledge. Her father is a drunk as well as crippled. It’s a dark life and a hungry one.

When Eliza hires her to help her she knows nothing about cooking. However, she can read and write and her palate is spot on and her descriptions of the flavors are poetry itself.

They take ten years to perfect their book. In that time they become more than employer/employee. They become friends. They make each other bolder, stronger, and better.

I enjoyed the back and forth viewpoints. No time-hopping, just their own perspectives, and thoughts. The descriptions of everything they create are much like poetry and I could smell the herbs and taste the tart lemon on my tongue.

After reading this I googled Eliza and Ann and their book. They introduced spaghetti! And Brussel Sprouts.

Very well written!

NetGalley/October 26th, 2021 by William Morrow Paperbacks

I had never heard of Eliza Acton or Ann Kirby prior to reading this novel. What a life they had. I loved seeing Victorian London through their eyes. It was refreshing to read about women of this era in a novel that is not focused on romance. The two strong heroines made fantastic protagonists. And the recipes described sounded scrumptious.

I love good historical fiction and Miss Eliza’s English Kitchen by Annabel Abbs was a huge treat! Plus, check out that beautiful cover!

England, 1835. London is awash with thrilling new ingredients, from rare spices to exotic fruits. But no one knows how to use them. When Eliza Acton is told by her publisher to write a cookery book instead of the poetry she loves, she refuses—until her bankrupt father is forced to flee the country. As a woman, Eliza has few options. Although she’s never set foot in a kitchen, she begins collecting recipes and teaching herself to cook. Much to her surprise she discovers a talent – and a passion – for the culinary arts.

Eliza hires young, destitute Ann Kirby to assist her. As they cook together, Ann learns about poetry, love and ambition. The two develop a radical friendship, breaking the boundaries of class while creating new ways of writing recipes. But when Ann discovers a secret in Eliza’s past, and finds a voice of her own, their friendship starts to fray.

This is the perfect book to read in a day, just relax and let everything go while you enjoy this story and travel back in time for a while. This comes out on October 26!

When a publisher crushes Eliza's dream of becoming a published poet suggesting she write a romance novel or a cook book instead, she is angry and disappointed.
When her merchant father is bankrupted he flees to France leaving Eliza and her mother in dire circumstances. They find themselves operating a boarding house with Eliza as cook.
She come to find cook books lacking and decides to write her own. With the help of her kitchen maid she finds poetry in food and in creating well-written recipes.
Eliza Acton was a British author and is credited with writing the first modern cookbook. Food history fans will enjoy this book immensely.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this first-rate work of historical fiction.

As a collector of cookbooks and a fan of historical fiction, it was only natural that I would request this book. I wasn't disappointed. This book introduced me to the wonderfully intricate culinary world that took place in Victorian England. Yet it was more than that, as we see the social differences, the food preferences and what it took to create everyday meals. As usual during the 19th century we see how difficult it was for women at that not only to be recognized, but to shine through. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5
This is a historical fiction novel about English poet and cook, Eliza Acton and her assistant, Ann Kirby. I was impressed by the beautifully brought to life characters of these two women. Annabel Abbs creates a wholly believable narrative for the time period using some known facts for plot points. The discussion of spices and foods would be interesting and enjoyable to anyone who cooks or appreciates food. Eliza is a strong and independent woman, especially during the 1800s. I find it interesting to read about how different life was in the past and to see just how few real choices a "lady" had. The scenes and different pictures are painted thoroughly - from Ann's meager home and impoverished, troubled family, to the upper society Actons who then face a fall - each event and scene is clearly depicted. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and appreciates cooking.

The topic fascinated me, but I was a little disappointed in the book. I didn't feel that the characters were well developed.

The title of this book has "English Kitchen" in it, and one might think that it would be about food. You know, having a cuppa, a good buttery scone with clotted cream, a few recipes thrown in, more of Victorian kitchen times.. However, it turned out to be a historical fiction drama of an average kind with a very modern twist with social justice undertones: hard life of a wonderful and just spinster, who is an aspiring poet, all churches and clerks are jerks, and parents are selfish. The story is very two dimensional.