BOOKS

The Language of Food BY ANNABEL ABBS

ngland, 1835. When her father abandons their family, Eliza Acton and her mother are forced to take in paying guests. Eliza’s lifelong dream of having her poetry published takes a strange turn when her publisher commissions her to write a cookbook instead. Since she knows nothing about food or writing recipes, she enlists the help of poverty-stricken Ann, and despite their dark and troublesome backgrounds, the two women work together in the kitchen to create heady dishes and recipes of sensuous delight. Based on the true story of cookbook author Eliza Acton, this opulent tale is every bit as delightful as the descriptions of food