Lottie Hazell

Piglet (we don't learn her real name until the very end of the book) is a product of middle class parents from the hinterlands of England, who has created a successful life for herself in London as an assistant cookbook editor. She has a well-to-do fiance, a nice circle of friends, a beautiful new house, and an opulent wedding in two weeks. But what happens when the life one has created is essentially hollow and its fragility is revealed in one crushing blow?

I had trouble connecting with Piglet as a character. I found her exasperating. And since it's a very internal novel, not having that connection hindered my enjoyment of it. That said, the essential themes Hazlett is addressing are interesting ones, and I appreciated her approach to them. Also, the descriptions of food were marvelous and evocative and never failed to make me hungry.

At heart, this is a sad story. I think I was expecting something a bit more light-hearted. [[Jennifer Weiner]], writing in The New York Times, said it should be classified as horror, if only for one particular scene that was excruciating to read. It wasn't a bad book, and I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it. It just didn't fully work for me.

3.75 stars… (mehr)

Some people eat to live and others live to eat. Unfortunately I am one of those that live to eat. With that being said, it was easy for me to relate to this book. "Piglet" (a nickname given by her family) feels like her life is spinning out of control when she is divulged some upsetting information. This knowledge generates the understanding that the life she has been living has been a farce. Because she does not know what to do with the information, she turns to food. The food not only gives her a sense of comfort, it also gives her a sense of control. There were times I felt like I was reading a cook book as there are many pages dedicated to specifically detailing her making recipes. I found this to be a little tedious and monotonous. However, if you are someone that has a love for cooking and new recipes, you would probably love this part of the book. This book is humorous and affable as it probes into the topic of women and food. It shines a spotlight on expectations of weight for a woman, social class and food, using food as a coping mechanism and how women who eat abundantly are viewed. "Piglet" is definitely worth reading. 3.5 out of 5 stars Thank you Lottie Hazell and Henry Holt & Company for the advanced reader's copy.… (mehr)

The breakdown of this woman’s life and her mental state was excruciating in how evocatively it was written. It had the feeling of a slow drag through mud and filth but done so well. It is uncomfortable and I enjoyed that. I couldn’t help but feel the shame and the discomfort along with the character. First it was from the grating differences between Piglet’s family and Kit’s in terms of class and culture along with the ways her parents could guilelessly poke at old wounds. Then, with Kit’s confession, it was the stress of having this life-ruining secret boiling inside her while for everyone else nothing had changed and the date of the wedding fast approached, followed by the repeated hits of having so many people dismiss her fiancé’s betrayal and thus compound the betrayal. Even in the mundane, the tension could ratchet up.
Piglet’s grasping for control through binge eating and food preparation for her own wedding made sense with her character’s relationship to food and her downward spiral. I felt for her as these coping mechanisms inevitably left her agonizingly ashamed and feeling more out of control than ever.

I will say, I didn’t understand the choice to keep what Kit had done a secret throughout. At first, I thought it would be revealed at a significant point in the story to add more context to Piglet’s state of mind. Then, I thought it was a choice to keep the focus on Piglet and her response to her life being upended rather than whether she’s justified based off what he did. But it got a little distracting. It felt strange and took me out of the story a bit for no character to ever mention The Act even as they get deep into their feelings on it and what they thought Piglet should do. This choice didn’t work for me.… (mehr)