CULTURE CLUB
THE GOLDEN SPOON BY JESSA MAXWELL If you’ve ever watched The Great British Bake Off and thought the show had potential as the setting for a murder mystery, you’re in luck. Jessa Maxwell’s debut novel takes a thinly-disguised GBBO and moves the action to Vermont, USA, transforming the concept into a sinister yet unputdownable read which sees every page packed with baking references. We join the action as the tenth series of Bake Week begins filming. Beloved host Betsy Martin is disgruntled at being forced to share the spotlight with new co-host Archie Morris, who fronts The Cutting Board – a macho cooking contest that couldn’t be more different from this gentle show. Betsy has worked hard to win her place as ‘America’s grandmother’, and dislikes brash, opinionated Archie on principle. But the production team think the show needs shaking up, so she begrudgingly welcomes him into the team and, by extension, her family home. As anyone who watches GBBO will know, even the most accomplished bakers will make mistakes in the pressured environment of the tent: but there’s a whisper of suspicion about the events which start to derail the contestants’ bakes. Salt and sugar is swapped, fridge doors are left open – and murmurs of sabotage begin to spread. Strange noises in the night and overheard conversations contribute to the feeling of unease, and as we learn more about the contestants, it becomes clear each has their own reason to be in the tent beyond a straightforward love of baking. If you love baking and murder mysteries, this is an excellent addition to a wish list: make sure to have a slice of something sugary on hand while you read, or you’ll be forced to put the book down and get your apron on…
BY VERONICA RAIMO Now translated into English for the first time, Veronica Raimo’s novel was a runaway hit in Italy, with over 100,000 copies sold in its original language. The book introduces us to the deadpan Vero, who shares sardonic observations and vignettes from her 1980s upbringing in Rome, in an extremely complicated household. Vero’s mother is riddled with anxiety about the wellbeing of Vero and her brother, constantly checking on their whereabouts and presuming they’ve died if they don’t answer their phones – while her obsessive father is preoccupied with adding bizarre new rooms to their apartments and keeping his children safe from invisible germs. Her parents’ mental states limit the freedom Vero and her brother crave. Young Vero catches rheumatic fever, which leads her father to wrap his daughter in paper towels for a summer, protecting her from the enemy of ‘sweat’. She makes an attempt to run away to Paris at 15, only to be thwarted by her mother’s ability to locate her children no matter where they may be, and begrudgingly returns home. As Vero comes of age, she falls in love again and again, whether with partners or the sheer delight of experiencing the world for herself, and lets nothing stand in her way. She fakes artisanal clothing to raise funds for a trip to Mexico, she moves in with a lover after a few weeks of knowing them, and gradually becomes a writer – as her brother also does – after finding that their own invented fiction can offer greater solace than the actual lived experience. Vero’s stories are shared haphazardly, almost like they’re being remembered, with tales tumbling into one another and mimicking perfectly the experience of recalling anecdotes from childhood. Is she lying? Can it be called deceit if you can’t remember how events turned out? Some incidents Vero describes are bleak, some hilarious, and some so outlandish you’ll wonder if they actually took place. In Italian, the book is titled Niente di vero , or nothing true. This seems fitting for a genre-defying work that slips between fiction, non-fiction, biography, comedy and tragedy – and is an unforgettable, thought-provoking summer read. Lost on Me
CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK SEPTEMBER 2023 19
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