Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Obtained from: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
Read: May 15, 2014
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I'll be the first to admit Joyce Wayne's The Cook's Temptation surprised me. I mean no offense, but debut pieces can be hit and miss and I've taken to approaching each with a healthy amount of discretion. This time round, however, fortune favored me with an ambitious and thought-provoking fiction.
Wayne's subtle style took me a while to warm to, but I think it worked in her favor when looking at the themes she tackled over the course of the narrative. Class conflict, intolerance, anti-semitism, and so on. These are big concepts and while I feel the incorporation of so many large scale ideas slowed the pacing of the story, I admire Wayne's ability to pull them together in a single narrative.
The authenticity in Wayne's characterizations are also noteworthy. Both primary and secondary cast members are complex creatures, individuals who are tried and tested by the strictures of the Victorian era and circumstances outside their control. They are emotional beings who the reader can easily understand if not empathize with and that's saying something when one considers how foreign the prejudices of the late nineteenth century are to contemporary eyes.
An inspiring example of both period and women's fiction, The Cook's Temptation is a moving of a one struggling to find way in the face of overwhelming adversity. A hauntingly written tale from a promising new voice.
Wayne's subtle style took me a while to warm to, but I think it worked in her favor when looking at the themes she tackled over the course of the narrative. Class conflict, intolerance, anti-semitism, and so on. These are big concepts and while I feel the incorporation of so many large scale ideas slowed the pacing of the story, I admire Wayne's ability to pull them together in a single narrative.
The authenticity in Wayne's characterizations are also noteworthy. Both primary and secondary cast members are complex creatures, individuals who are tried and tested by the strictures of the Victorian era and circumstances outside their control. They are emotional beings who the reader can easily understand if not empathize with and that's saying something when one considers how foreign the prejudices of the late nineteenth century are to contemporary eyes.
An inspiring example of both period and women's fiction, The Cook's Temptation is a moving of a one struggling to find way in the face of overwhelming adversity. A hauntingly written tale from a promising new voice.
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At the Devil’s Stone Inn, maman ran her trade in milkmaids in a catch as catch can way. I’ve witnessed the look on the men’s faces in Polly’s parlour before, but not the expression on the girls’ faces. Polly’s women are certain of themselves, in ways I have rarely witnessed. I can’t help but wonder if the whores’ lives are superior to mine. At least they are paid and have a day of freedom every week. If I were to share my tale of indignity with a whore’s, how could mine compare favourably.
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Check Out All the Stops on Joyce Wayne's The Cook's Temptation Virtual Tour & Book Blast Schedule
Thursday, June 12
Book Blast at WTF Are You Reading?
Book Blast at I’d So Rather be Reading
Book Blast at History From a Woman’s Perspective
Book Blast at WTF Are You Reading?
Book Blast at I’d So Rather be Reading
Book Blast at History From a Woman’s Perspective
Saturday, June 14
Book Blast at A Bookish Affair
Book Blast at Griperang’s Bookmarks
Book Blast at Just One More Chapter
Book Blast at A Bookish Affair
Book Blast at Griperang’s Bookmarks
Book Blast at Just One More Chapter
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