Description
‘A lush and sensory novel . . .This is a story that lingers’ – Emma Pei Yin, author of When Sleeping Women Wake
‘Feast held me in its thrall from the first page and never let go . . . an immersive, enthralling, extraordinary piece of historical fiction’ – Rachel Blackmore, author of Costanza
In the soot-streaked alleys of 19th-century London, Minha is a girl unlike any other – born with an extraordinary gift: an overwhelming, all-consuming sense of taste. Desperate to escape a life of poverty, she crosses the sea to France, chasing the shimmer of a better future.
At Chateau de Bellefalaise, a grand estate with fairytale turrets perched above a sleepy village, Minha’s talent is discovered when she detects poison in a dish about to be served to the chateau’s master, Duc Nicolas. For the first time in her life, her strange ability becomes her salvation – and her curse. Appointed the Duc’s personal poison-taster, she is confined to her tasting room and forced to live in the chateau’s shadows. With each dish, she enters a world of glittering porcelain and gilded secrets, where danger simmers beneath every course…
But when she loses her miraculous gift and suspicion coils through the corridors, Minha must confront a terrifying truth: without her gift, who is she – and what remains of the life she’s fought so hard to build?
Feast is a sumptuous historical novel brimming with intrigue and sensory wonder – a dark fairytale for readers who love Jessie Burton, Elizabeth Macneal and Bridget Collins.
‘A beautiful book, vivid and delicious and alive . . . I loved it’ – Alex Hay, author of The Housekeepers
‘Feast is a tasty read, a fantastic novel filled with glorious detail and deliciously vivid story-telling . . . I highly recommend it’ – Salena Godden, author of Mrs Death Misses Death
‘A novel to savour, bursting with rich delights’ – Laura Wilkinson, author of Redemption Song
‘Sensuous and richly imagined’ – Beth Miller, author of The Missing Letters of Mrs Bright
‘Where Perfume traced the pursuit of power, Feast examines a life of resistance’ – Mark A Radcliffe, author of Three Gifts
‘Kurtz is the real deal – an absolute original’ – Mick Jackson, author of The Underground Man