Publication Date: February 1, 2014 Mosaic Press
Formats: Ebook, Paperback
Joyce Wayne brings to life the complexities of Victorian life, first in County Devon and then in London’s East End. The ‘big picture’ is about one woman’s life, class conflict, religious intolerance, suspicion and betrayal. The central figure is Cordelia, a strong-minded Jewish woman who is caught between her desire to be true to herself and her need to be accepted by English society.Cordelia Tilley is the daughter of a Jewish mother and an Anglican father. Her mother has groomed her for a life in English society while her father, a tough publican, has shown no tolerance for his wife’s social climbing or the conceits of their perspicacious daughter. Cordelia’s mother dies from typhoid fever, she tries to run the family ‘s establishment, she falls prey to a local industrialist, she gives birth to a son, she is tormented by her husband and his family. Finally, she is rescued by suffragette friends and sets off to start a new life in London.The Cook’s Temptation is about a woman who is unpredictable, both strong and weak willed, both kind and heinous, victim and criminal. It is a genuine Victorian saga, full of detail, twists and turns, memorable scenes, full of drama and pathos.
My Thoughts
"The Cook's Temptation" follows the life of Cordelia Tilley, the daughter of a well-bred French Jew and her low-born publican husband. Cordelia is nurtured by her mother, not only mentally, but also in the kitchen where fancy cooking is the seal of the Devil's Stone Inn. When her mother dies from an outbreak of Typhoid fever, Cordelia is forced to marry the gentlemanly Frederick Wendice. With promises of a pampered life as his manor's chatelaine, she soon learns that leading the easy life is anything but easy.
"The Cook's Temptation" is hard to categorize. It's not a black and white novel. None of the characters are particularly endearing. The reader sympathizes with Cordelia until she becomes a villain in her own right. The story brings to light the old tale of Mary Brown or "Typhoid Mary" as she was known to Americans in the early 20th century. Can illness be carried around by asymptomatic carriers and delivered to victims as swiftly as a bottle of poison? It's a compelling premise and for the most part, well executed throughout most of the novel. The ending is somewhat rushed and the story suffers as a result. The beginning could have been easily truncated and the tumultuous life that Cordelia embarks upon in the end elaborated on. Despite this, "The Cook's Temptation" will appeal to those readers who enjoyed Michael Faber's "The Crimson Petal and the White" and other such novels that shine a light on the lurid side of prim and proper Victorian England.
Praise for The Cook's Temptation
“Joyce Wayne’s debut novel, The Cook's Temptation, has the stately bearing of a nineteenth century novel – the mercilessness of Thomas Hardy, the black allegory of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the tense marriages of George Eliot. It is a story of how people become what you blame them for being.” – Ian Williams, poet and fiction writer, short listed for the 2012 Griffin Poetry Prize
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About the Author
For more information please visit Joyce Wayne's website. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. She is happy to participate in Books Clubs by phone and Skype.
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Interview at From the TBR Pile
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Review at Caroline Wilson Writes
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Giveaway
Up for grabs are 3x eBooks of The Cook's Temptation and 3x $10 Amazon Gift Cards! To enter, please complete the Rafflecopter giveaway form below. Giveaway is open to US & Canada residents only.
Giveaway ends at 11:59pm on June 27th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
Winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter on June 28th and notified via email.
Winner have 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
Winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter on June 28th and notified via email.
Winner have 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
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