S MAGAZINE ★ 11 AUGUST 2019 53
How It Was ***
by Janet Ellis
(Two Roads, £16.99)
Marion Deacon is not a happy woman. She is
stuck in rural Kent in a lacklustre marriage with
a decent but staid man, Michael. She has a
young son, Eddie, and a complicated relationship
with her teenage daughter Sarah (“she wasn’t so
much becoming a woman as bursting into adult
life like a great pupa. The sheer, swelling
physicality of her made me grit my teeth”).
Marion’s discontent leads her to make some
unwise decisions, from reading her daughter’s
diary to embarking on a misguided relationship.
Disaster strikes in the worst possible way and
Marian attempts to make amends while
maintaining an unruffled façade: “It’s a matter
of pride that no one can tell by looking at her...
how wounded she is and how much she hides”.
And this is part of the problem of this astute
but patchy second novel from ex-TV presenter
Janet Ellis. Marian, by her own admission, has
“tried to regard everything that happened with
a dispassionate curiosity, the way you read the
labels in a museum”. She is heartbroken but
determined not to reveal it and it makes her an
initially unsympathetic character.
Over the course of the novel, she becomes
more likeable, but it’s hard to shake off that
initial frosty impression. The structure of the
book doesn’t help. It opens when all the
emotional upheaval is in the past and Marion
sits at the bedside of terminally ill Michael,
clutching old photos and letters, each a prompt
for a memory from the past. So a floundering
marriage and fractious feelings are revealed
piecemeal, making for a disjointed read.
Eithne FarryBOOKS
To buy these books, see Express Bookshop on page 77Cooking the books
Have your rolling pins at the ready for Eithne Farry’s
choice of mouthwatering new cookbooks
A Flash In The Pan: Simple,
Speedy Stovetop Recipes
by John Whaite
(Kyle Books, £20)
Great British Bake Off winner John Whaite’s
latest book is all about making speedy
but sophisticated flavoursome food using
basic kitchen equipment, a few sharp
knives and a sprinkling of spices. The
dishes can be made in 30 to 45 minutes
and there’s no need for an oven as you
can rustle up jalapeño chicken burger
with Cheddar corn fritters, Vietnamese
hot dogs bahn mi and burnt butter, sage
and blue cheese omelette on the hob.Eat Well For Less Every Day
by Jo Scarratt-Jones
(BBC Books, £14.99)
Featuring 80 recipes from the BBC’s
hit show, Jo Scarratt-Jones taps into
the trend for healthy, tasty meals that
won’t break the bank or take an age
to prepare. She offers tips on budgeting,
kitchen gadgets and making the best
use of the freezer – go big on batch
cooking is her advice. Alongside breakfast
suggestions, snacks and light bites, the
main meals are appealingly achievable.
Pick from speedy vegetable biryani,
aubergine chilli traybake and lentil
and cumberland pie.Leon Happy Baking
by Claire Ptak and Henry Dimbleby
(Octopus, £16.99)
The authors hope that their baking book
will become “batter-smattered, tacky with
toffee and dog-eared through use” and it
seems a likely outcome for recipes built on
the belief that food should taste good and
do you good, too. There are wheat, dairy
and refined sugar-free offerings plus vegan
and gluten-free options alongside more
traditional savoury or sweet bakes from
French onion tart and salmon and dill
muffins to pineapple upside-down cake
and Eccles cakes.Baking With Kim-Joy
by Kim-Joy
(Quadrille, £18)
Kim Joy was a finalist in the Great British
Bake Off but her super-cute creations
won her a place in the heart of bakers
everywhere. Her book is just as appealing,
with step-by-step photographic instructions,
sweet illustrations by the author and a
host of tasty treats in the shape of kittens,
koalas and space turtles. She transforms
a chocolate cake into a woodland retreat
decorated with cookie deer, makes
meringues into mushrooms, and
bakes bee-shaped almond and honey
biscuits. Delightful.