The Food of Love

A proud family. Snubbed by aristocratic neighbour Lord Frampton at a coming-of-age ball, Donald Oliver dreams of the day he’ll have his vengeance. A wild daughter. Laura Oliver, beautiful and tempestuous, falls in love with Giovanni, an Italian ex-prisoner-of-war, now a humble cook. Disdaining her father’s snobbishness - and his wrath - the couple flee to London. A desperate hope. Giovanni and Laura arrive to a city that has not yet re-awoken after the traumas of war. Facing destitution, only their love for one another and their dream of opening a restaurant business keeps them going. From Cotswolds farmland to London fish markets, society ballrooms to icy gutters, this is a tale of prejudice and ambition, power and passion, and one couple’s struggle to overcome all obstacles and carve out a life of their own.

As a cook, restaurateur, food writer and business woman, Prue Leith has played a key role in the revolution of Britain’s eating habits since the 1960s. She is a judge on Channel 4’s Great British Bake Off. After a long break from food writing, Prue has returned to writing cookery books alongside her fiction. She is the author of seven romantic novels as well as a memoir, Relish. All Prue’s fiction and her memoir are in print with Quercus. She lives in Oxfordshre. Follow her on on Twitter @PrueLeith