This innovative historical romance/mystery begins at
Mawton Hall, Cheshire in 1771. Biddy
Leigh, 22, short for Obedience, is the under-cook at the
Manor House. Creative cooking is what she loves. She
also
loves Jem Burdett and plans to marry him soon and open a
tavern with him. Her humble dream is shattered when her
old and ugly master marries, and his young bride arrives
at
the Manor, but the Master has returned to Ireland. Lady
Carinna does not enjoy anything about Mawton Hall and
begins to plan on leaving there and travel to Italy. She
demands that Biddy accompany her. When asked why Biddy
needed to go, Lady Carinna answered, "to save myself from
bad foreign food." Goodbye to Biddy's hopes and dreams.
She is off to Tuscany.
In Paris at the Maison de Sante, Biddy visits the very
first
restaurant, and is impressed with the concept. Biddy
continues to document her travels, and add recipes and
culinary discoveries,
to "The Cook's Jewel", the handwritten cookbook kept by
the
previous Mistress, Lady Maria.
Mrs. Gardner, the cook at the Manor gave the book to Biddy
when she left on her voyage and Biddy is keeping careful
accounts of all her adventures and food discoveries.
Lady Carinna has a dark secret she will share with no
one.
She is calculating and devious and uses Biddy to carry out
her dangerous plan of action. She teaches Biddy new tricks
and Biddy is a quick learner. Soon she can mimic a
gentlewomans's speech, learns how to dress as a lady, use
make-up and style her hair and can produce a sprinkling of
speaking French and Italian. The plot thickens, and Lady
Carinna becomes ill and asks Biddy to pretend she is Lady
Carinna.
A mistress, a maid and a mystery that includes the Mawton
Rose, a famous and fabulous jewel begin to unravel. So
many
twists and turns will have you unable to put the book down
but race to see what the ending will bring. Strong
characters, some with black souls, others with sweet
hearts,
will keep you guessing. Who? Why? When?
Martine Bailey's debut, AN APPETITE FOR VIOLETS is about
another time and place. The story is told through the eye
of a
servant. It is rich in detail, and filled with drama and
danger. Finally, the duplicitous scheme hatched by Lady
Carinna is revealed. A romance that mends Biddy' broken
heart, brings a happy and sweet finale. Violet Pastilles,
from the days of Good Queen Bess, and bought at The Cocoa-
Nut Tree at Covent Garden, had me reaching for a sweet, as
I
read and re-read the final sweet ending. AN APPETITE FOR
VIOLETS is a great read and I
look forward to the next by Ms. Bailey.
“That’s how it is for us servants. No one pays you much
heed; mostly you're invisible as furniture. Yet you
overhear
a conversation here, and add a little gossip there. Then
you
find something, something you should not have found.”
Irrepressible Biddy Leigh, under-cook at forbidding Mawton
Hall, only wants to marry her childhood sweetheart and set
up her own tavern. But when her elderly master marries
young
Lady Carinna, Biddy is unwittingly swept up in a world of
scheming, secrets, and lies. Forced to accompany her new
mistress to Italy, she documents her adventures and
culinary
discoveries in an old household book of recipes, The
Cook’s
Jewel. Biddy grows intrigued by her fellow travelers, but
her secretive and unconventional mistress is the most
intriguing of all.
In London, Biddy finds herself attracted to her mistress’s
younger brother. In France, she discovers her mistress’s
dark secret. At last in Italy, Biddy becomes embroiled in
a
murderous conspiracy, knowing the secrets she holds could
be
a key to a better life, or her downfall.
Inspired by eighteenth-century household books of recipes
and set at the time of the invention of the first
restaurants, An Appetite for Violets is a literary feast
for
lovers of historical fiction. Like Jo Baker’s Longbourn,
it
opens a window into the fascinating lives of servants,
while
also delivering a suspenseful tale of obsession and
betrayal.
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