The Great British Bake Off<\/a> is on Channel 4<\/em><\/p>\n \n British food \u2013 and English food in particular \u2013 has quite a bad reputation. But anyone who lives here or who has visited recently, knows that is a load of utter tosh. I love a roast, yearn for fish and chips and revel in the comfort of a good cottage pie and baked beans. If you\u2019ve suffered bad English food then I suspect you have been victim to a bad cook. <\/p>\n Food historians Rachel Rich and Lisa Smith write in defence of British food and explain how it got its bad rep. Turns out, we have rationing to blame for the idea that British food is bland. In their book, The King\u2019s Dinner, the two academics and their co-authors explore the diversity of flavours in British food by drawing on the vast kitchen ledgers of two royal households. It is a wonderful exploration of what it meant to be British at the end of the 18th century.<\/p>\n The King\u2019s Dinner<\/a> is out now<\/em><\/p>\n \n A dish our current king will most certainly not have enjoyed this week is the one served cold by his former brother-in-law, Charles Spencer. His new memoir, Swan Song, has caused quite a furore in the press. The memoir has been marketed as \u201cthe most intimate, loving and honest portrait\u201d of Diana yet and, unsurprisingly, it does not paint a very flattering picture of the royal family. <\/p>\n King Charles comes off worst, described in one of the more damning tidbits as being \u201cgiddily elated\u201d on learning of Diana\u2019s death. However, as reviewer Kate Cantrell notes, despite its claim to be the authoritative account of Diana\u2019s life, it is only another interpretation. <\/p>\n Swan Song<\/a> is out now<\/em><\/p>\n \n In The Disappearers, Marlon James boldly brings to life the hidden worlds of gay Jamaicans. Beginning in late 1980s Kingston, the book follows eight gay men as they gather to rehearse a play about homosexuality and sexual power play. Performing a gay play, let alone being gay, places these men in the path of violence, and they are keenly aware of that threat.<\/p>\n For a brief moment, the rehearsal space offers freedom to be who they are. But this respite is destroyed one night when the group becomes victim to a violent homophobic attack that leaves one of them dead. Shortly afterwards, two others disappear. <\/p>\n In the years that follow, one survivor attempts to investigate what happened while society averts its gaze and buries the incident. Our reviewer, Alison Donnell \u2013 an expert in expanding and recovering Carribean literary histories \u2013 found the novel to be \u201ca powerful literary reckoning with a hidden past\u201d. She deems the book a virtuoso literary performance with all the hallmarks that makes James a great writer. But most importantly, it \u201cis an enraged and personal act of restitution\u201d. <\/p>\n The Disappearers<\/a> by Marlon James is out now<\/em><\/p>\n \n Another book shedding light on lesser-explored areas of life is Before I Forget by Anne Pauly. In this book, the French writer explores the challenges of caring for an ageing parent who was incredibly abusive. Anne\u2019s father was a violent alcoholic who refuses to acknowledge just how awful he was to her and her mother and yet, she\u2019s still caring for him.<\/p>\n As our reviewer notes, it\u2019s hard to comprehend fully how such a bully can be so beloved by his victim. However, Pauly pulls off a skilful exploration of this complex situation, giving the reader the space to make their own mind up about Anne and her father. Pauly also manages to be acerbically funny amid all the trauma, a feat in itself. This is a book that\u2019s uniquely and adeptly attuned to the messiness and complexities of human grief and familial love. <\/p>\n Before I Forget<\/a> by Anne Pauly is out now<\/em><\/p>\n
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\n The domestic goddess enters the tent: Nigella Lawson and Bake Off thrive on the same fantasy<\/a>
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\nDelicious British fare<\/h2>\n
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\n The Met<\/a><\/span>
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\n British food was complex, multicultural and flavourful in the 18th century \u2013 despite what you might think<\/a>
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\n Swan Song: Diana\u2019s brother flips the royal family the bird in his scathing new book<\/a>
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\nHidden stories<\/h2>\n
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\n The Disappearers: Marlon James\u2019s new novel gives voice to the gay men Jamaica erased<\/a>
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