The Language of Food: "Mouth-watering and sensuous, a real feast for the imagination" BRIDGET COLLINS

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A story of courage, unlikely friendship and an exceptional character, told in vibrant and immersive prose' Caroline Scott Before Nigella, before Julia Childs, before even Mrs Beeton, there was Eliza Acton who dreams of being a poet but in 1835, the only way for her to get published and to keep her family in funds is to write a cookery book. To this end, Eliza takes on a maid, Ann Kirby, and forge an unlikely partnership even as Eliza embarks on writing what is now considered the first modern cookery book.Told from both Eliza and Ann’s voices, The Language Of Food, is a feast for the senses and also shows that its friendship, rather than food, that nourishes the soul. Julie And Julia but make it Victorian!" RED A feast for the senses, this inspiring book is about friendship, passion and determination. I loved it!" MY WEEKLY Overall, this is a lovely story of two very different women, from very different walks of life, coming together to create something worthwhile and helpful to generations of cooks who have benefitted from Eliza’s organization and instructions on not only the proper ingredients, but the steps needed to make the dishes a success. This format is still widely utilized today and has influenced several high-profile chefs over the years. it's fantastic stuff and very easy to read. there's a bit too much of the personal anecdote dropped in, and it is very san francisco-centric, but there's at least one entertaining, thought-provoking fact in each chapter, which is pretty good for a book about something as niche-y as food and linguistics.

My other complaint is that the author very awkwardly inserts these little personal notes that don't really add anything and, in fact, make it feel a little like a vanity book written for friends. It's a shame because the rest of the book is very professional while still being readable.Told through the alternating perspectives of the two women, The Language of Food draws on fact and imagination as Eliza and Ann develop what will eventually be “the greatest British cookbook of all time”, published in 1845 as ‘Modern Cookery, in All Its Branches: Reduced to a System of Easy Practice, for the Use of Private Families’. It’s also a story of female friendship and fortitude, as the women, despite their different stations in life, work side by side, and a story of creativity and cooking as Eliza and Ann combine their talents for poetry and instinct for flavours. Exhilarating to read - thoughtful, heart-warming and poignant, with a quiet intelligence and elegance that does its heroine proud’ Bridget Collins It depends of course on one's particular branch of linguistics. I envy forensic linguists who can tell dramatic tales of criminal acquittal or conviction on the strength of linguistic evidence. But for many in other branches of linguistics, one would think there is no such hope. Computational and corpus linguists, etymologists, historical linguists, comparative linguists, and phoneticians surely stand no chance. How could one ever make such areas seem not only relevant for a non-academic audience, but popular? Eliza Acton had never even boiled an egg so how did she become a successful cookery writer? We find out in this beautiful fictionalisation of her life. It is 1835 and poet Eliza is told by her publisher to write a cookery book instead. Disheartened but determined, she hires teenagers Ann Kirby to help her. Over the next 10 years they develop a friendship that sees them change the face of cookery writing forever” WOMAN & HOME

The voices of both women are very touching. Eliza is very warm and encouraging, taking Ann under her wings. Ann appreciates Eliza’s warmness and kindness, but at the same time still feels guilty for not taking care of her parents. You can sense how much she tries to stay strong, never revealing her troubled past.

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I love Abbs’s writing and the extraordinary, hidden stories she unearths. Eliza Acton is her best discovery yet’ Clare Pooley I love Abbs’s writing and the extraordinary, hidden stories she unearths. Eliza Acton is her best discovery yet’ Clare Pooley

The story is told in dual narratives. Eliza’s thoughts and personal goals and challenges are very different from those Ann Kirby endured, but the women complemented one another beautifully.I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. Many thanks to the publisher William Morrow for this gift. It's possible for speakers with a very high F0 to have a F0 higher than where their own F1 ought to be on some vowels, which can lead to problems with vowel identification. IIRC, classically-trained sopranos can also get F0 higher than even where some of their own F2s are expected; I am informed that they also are trained essentially to be able to consciously manipulate where their formants occur.)

All in all, I really liked what the author was able to come with as it was a mix of facts and she used her creativity to fill in some of the blanks. I recommend this book if you like reading about food and are looking for something different in the historical fiction genre. The Language of Food is a beautiful story of food and of recipes, and also of poetry, but more than that of two women who want to dream of and do things that weren’t approved of in the time they wanted to do them or seemed far out of their reach—and who each in their own way lived somewhat beyond convention.When the women prep the food and discuss ingredients with final touches, you can visualize it on a tray with its tasty aroma filling the house. The atmosphere of the cookery evokes your senses of taste and smell. When Eliza savors the six course French dinner, she eats it so slowly devouring its intricacies and complexities to a point that you want to grab that food and taste it yourself. The friendship between two women makes you want to join them in their endeavors. There is a lot of interesting history here but the linguistics part of it, which is what I thought would be most interesting, gets somewhat lost in print. I wish I had listened to this on audio book to get the full understanding of the routes to the subtle changes in words. While some of them are just matters of simple letter transposition or slight spelling changes, most appear to have been from hearing in one language and trying to translate those sounds into another. There are also many words I just had no idea how to pronounce and would have liked to hear.