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About the author and blogger ...

Anne Goodwin’s drive to understand what makes people tick led to a career in clinical psychology. That same curiosity now powers her fiction.
A prize-winning short-story writer, she has published three novels and a short story collection with small independent press, Inspired Quill. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, was shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize.
Away from her desk, Anne guides book-loving walkers through the Derbyshire landscape that inspired Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
Subscribers to her newsletter can download a free e-book of award-winning short stories.

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Food in fiction: novels, short stories and a Hindu-inspired flash

7/9/2014

13 Comments

 
PictureBlackberry and apple crumble
While I take great pleasure in my ability to harvest fruit and veg from my garden, I don’t get particularly excited about cooking it. As I couldn’t let it go to waste, I’ve been rustling up some strange concoctions of beetroot, courgettes and beans lately and rushing to put them on the table before it gets too cool to dine in the garden. Cordon Bleu it’s not! I’m hoping my response to Charli Mills’ latest flash fiction prompt won’t also come out as a dog’s dinner.

Looking for inspiration for my 99-word food story, I turn to the novels on my physical and virtual bookshelves. Consistent with my miserablist inclinations, there’s a dominant theme of the problems that food or its lack can bring. In Shelley Harris’ novel, Jubilee, a boy’s divided loyalties to his white friends and Asian family is played out in his response to the food his mother plans to cook for a street party in 1970s Britain. (You can click on the link to find the quote.) One of the enduring images in Alison Moore’s debut, The Lighthouse, is the way in which, on a catered walking holiday along the Rhine, the main character consistently fails to get the food he has paid for. Although Lewis, the central character in her second novel, He Wants, is forced to endure fewer physical privations, his food is unsatisfying because it’s not what he actually wants.

Picture all home-grown except the fish, bread, wine and salad dressing
When I was a child, fruit other than apples, oranges and bananas tended to come out of a tin. We’d often have canned peaches with evaporated milk for Sunday tea. If I’d known then about the part they were to play in Adam Johnson’s dystopic novel, The Orphan Master’s Son, I might not have relished them as much as I did. Here’s the scene where the torturers realise their detainee has tricked them into escaping the only way he can (p364):

I could see Comrade Buc writhing on the floor, a spilled can of peaches beside him. Q-Kee was fighting his convulsions to get the tube down his throat. Black saliva streamed from his mouth, his eyes were drooping, sure signs of botulism poisoning.
‘Forget it,’ I said. ‘The toxin’s already in his nervous system.’
She grunted in frustration. ‘I know, I screwed up,’ she said.
‘Go on.’
‘I shouldn’t have, I know,’ she said. ‘It’s just that, he knows everything.’
‘Knew.’
‘Yes, knew.’ She looked like she wanted to kick Buc’s shuddering body. ‘I thought if I could take a crack at him, then we’d figure this whole thing out. I came down here and asked him what he wanted, and he told me peaches. He said it was the last thing he wanted on earth.’

Food is also a focus of conflict in my own short fiction, albeit on a gentler scale. The Japanese Garden starts with a couple sharing an alfresco meal on the patio; all I can say is that I’m thankful that mine didn’t end up as Wilma and her husband’s did. And, although no eggs are broken in Peace-and-Quiet Pancake  a child’s heart might be. Eggs are also the subject of this deceptively simple piece from Jill Storey, A Recipe for Certain Times of Life.

Picture
Charli writes deliciously about food as hospitality, how sharing food connects us to our fellow human beings, and animals too. Yet much as I relish the opportunity to share this old photo of the communal kitchen at a health camp in rural Zimbabwe, I’m drawn to exploring the other side. The underweight teen who cooks a banquet for her family but only picks at the small portion on her own plate. The miser who serves up leftovers to his guests.

When my own imagination drew a blank, I thought I’d be like Shakespeare and, as I did for my sound flash, pilfer a ready-made story and try to whittle it down to those 99 words.

I’ve chosen a classic morality tale about the Hindu god, Ganesh, which I got to know through our annual storytelling walk. (For those who have been part of the Twitter conversation on accents, there is evidence that mine is not RP on this post.) We’re trying to link this story of pride masquerading as hospitality to the environmental theme of using resources wisely and finding value in the basics. (There’s more about this, along with photos of this summer’s walk, on the Hindu Samaj blog.)
I’m unsure whether I’ve managed to stay faithful to the message of this complex story in my westernised mini version or, indeed, whether it can stand on its own merits, but I have at least recycled the theme of frustrated appetites that Alison Moore addresses so well … and tossed in some eggs.

Kay clocked the cut-price stickers in her workmate’s trolley. “Bill’s roasting a salmon on Sunday. Why not join us? Bring the kids.”
Sharon demurred. “They eat like gannets.”
“Bill cooks for an army.”

Cooking to Impress on the marble counter, Bill plated the food. Three helpings later, Gareth asked for more. With a rictus smile, Kay popped a frozen lasagna in the microwave. Gareth wolfed it down in seconds.
“You can’t still be hungry,” hissed his mother.
“No problem,” said Bill. “I’ll cook whatever you fancy.”
“Scrambled eggs,” said Gareth. “Like Mum makes.”
“Shit! We’re clean out of eggs.”

Apologies for the convoluted route to get here. Seems I’m still hooked on nailing the ingredients of my fiction. Your feedback is always welcome.

In the coming week I’ll be reviewing two new novels that I’m really excited about: Station Eleven and A History of Loneliness. I’m hoping you’ll come back and find out why. If you haven’t done already, you can sign up for email updates via the sidebar.

Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
13 Comments
Charli Mills
7/9/2014 01:27:10 pm

Like standing at the buffet table--where to start? I'll dive in to the most delicious flash fiction first. Wonderful dialog exchange: “They eat like gannets.” “Bill cooks for an army.” I can feel the tug of war between the women. The simple title of the cookbook on the counter speaks volumes as to this couple's reason for entertaining. And Gareth! How he breaks down that intention with his youthful hunger. You nailed the ingredients and served up a prime dish! Modern behaviors echo the Hindu morality tale.

The photo of the communal kitchen in rural Zimbabwe is fascinating. At first I thought it was laundry day! I worked on a non-profit project to create a community garden and kitchen for an immigrant population in Minnesota. Coming together over food was an incredible way to connect people within the community. Your walk in the woods, teaching about how the elephant got his head, reminds me of that. Sharing stories is often as delicious as sharing food.

Enjoy your garden as the season winds down! As you know, I let my lie fallow this year, but the fruit has taken me by surprise. Putting up is in my future! Although I can make some interesting crumbles, too--huckleberry pear anyone?

Terrific post, Anne! Thanks for inviting us to your table!



Reply
Annecdotist
8/9/2014 05:16:26 am

Thanks for partaking of my buffet, Charli.
Glad you felt the flash worked; I really wasn’t sure there was enough when I’d had to condense it so much. The cookbook title certainly saved me a lot of words, although in a more considered piece, I’d hope to come up with a more subtle title.
I can certainly see how you’d think the women in the picture were doing laundry, especially with those big (oil?) drums. It was a temporary camp and the women had come in from miles around with their children to be assessed and, from what I remember, I was impressed with how patient they were and how supportive of each other. In this picture they’re cooking sadza which is a corn-based porridge – their staple diet, which they’d have with some kind of greens in a peanut butter sauce. I really can’t remember, but I’m assuming we all ate together. I was there just as an observer while staying with a friend who was working there.
I’m glad you’re able to harvest some fruit at least from your garden. Our pears will also be ready quite soon and it’s looking like a bumper crop this year.

Reply
Charli Mills
8/9/2014 11:26:20 am

Pears are a bumper crop here, too! We were going to harvest huckleberries tomorrow, but it is building up to rain.

Just read Peace-and-Quiet Pancakes. There's a world of hurt told in that story and you do such a good job of setting up the moment, the reflection of the narrator and moving the story forward in such a small setting. Well done!

Annecdotist
9/9/2014 03:51:33 am

Thanks for reading, Charli, and glad you liked the story. Just got me wondering whether pear pancakes would work!

Gargi link
8/9/2014 04:32:07 am

What serendipity, Anne! Today is the final day of the Ganesh festival here in India – or did you know that already and time this post accordingly? :)

Reply
Annecdotist
8/9/2014 05:02:08 am

Thanks for flagging that, Gargi. I didn't know the exact dates but in the last three years we've done this walk as part of the festival, although I leave it to my colleague, Chamu, to decide exactly when. I think last year we did it right at the end and this year maybe a week before the beginning. I'm enjoying getting to know the stories but hadn't planned to try my own rewrite until I was fumbling for something for Charli's prompt. I'm delighted I ended up posting in time for the festival conclusion.

Reply
irene waters link
9/9/2014 06:17:02 am

I have enjoyed this post immensely Anne. You have had my mouth watering with your home grown harvest, reminded me of a passage from a book that left a lasting memory. Hard to believe that the author didn't have first hand knowledge of North Korea. A link to a story of yours that hit the mark and then your flash. well done I thoroughly enjoyed munching my way through.

Reply
Annecdotist
10/9/2014 04:31:32 am

Thanks for coming to the feast, Irene, and glad you enjoyed the food.

Reply
geoff link
9/9/2014 11:57:13 am

Now I have the privilege of knowing how awesome your vegetables are. And there's me boasting of my tomatoes (like in Crocodile Dundee - she reaches into a bag 'now that's a tomato'). Loved your short stories, esp the pancakes. It really is a strength of yours, the way you create so many spot on stories in such a small space. I will say I'm not sure I really did get the flash, having looked at the full tale but the reviews and the stories worked brilliantly.

Reply
Annecdotist
10/9/2014 04:35:42 am

But your tomatoes ARE impressive! Anyway, thanks for inspecting my produce so thoroughly. I appreciate your honest feedback on the flash – I did think it was borderline but I liked the idea of paring down a story that was in my mind and most Western readers wouldn't be familiar with – and likewise on pancake, glad you enjoyed it.

Reply
Norah Colvin link
14/9/2014 05:01:09 am

Hi Anne,
I'm a bit late coming to the table this week, but there's still plenty of fare to go round. I've had a little nibble of everything - always a must at a buffet!
I have to say I'm very impressed by the produce of your garden. It sounds like you are almost (or are totally) self-sufficient so far as veges go. Bec and Glenn are heading in that direction and I was around admiring their growing garden today. They would be impressed too. How wonderful to be able to serve up almost an entire meal from your garden!
You blackberry and apple crumble looks delicious, and I know Bec would approve of your making the most of the produce you have available. She always amazes me with the meals she puts together.
I couldn't quite see the label on the bottle, but it almost looks like a bottle of Stoneleigh sav blanc, or is it a semillon as in "The Japanese Garden". What is your drop?
Your short stories as always are superb. I love the way the plot unfolds in the dreamed of Japanese Garden. No wonder the poor man needed a drink. You know that I love the "Peace and Quiet Pancake". So sad, and more so for its truth.
Your flash is excellent too. Gareth does have an appetite! He'd eat them out of house and home - or has he? I agree with you that 99 words can be a challenge to get the story told, but you do it well. I love your choice of words - clocked, demurred, etc, and rictus was a new one for me, so thanks for the vocab lesson.
I always come away with a sense of satisfaction after reading your posts Anne. Thank you.

Reply
Annecdotist
16/9/2014 11:54:45 am

Thanks for coming to the feast, Norah. Fortunately the eats are continually replenished but, even if they weren't, there'd always be a place at my table for you.
We're a long way from being self-sufficient, unfortunately, but I do like making a meal from my own produce. While I'm happy eating whatever is in season – expect to be overdosing on tomatoes for the next few weeks – Mr A likes his meat and hothoused peppers and aubergines, which don't grow so well here even in the greenhouse. I don't think I've got Bec's patience, nor that of a friend who (I think only once) grew his own wheat.
The wine is actually Australian Chardonnay – we don't drink much and don't have particularly sophisticated tastes – whatever's on special offer supermarket will do (although I'm aware that's often a con).
Thanks for your feedback on my stories – I always come away from your comments feeling satisfied too!!!

Reply
Anita Legsdin link
5/10/2020 11:27:33 pm

Wow, nice post!, Thanks for sharing 🙂

Works of food fiction has always excites people. The wide arrays of cuisines, dishes, and terminologies have brought something new to the literary realm. Many aspire to create such works without truly considering the bumps on the road.

Please read my blog:<a href="https://www.legsdinbooks.com/the-common-challenges-in-writing-a-fiction-book-about-food/">The Common Challenges in Writing a Fiction Book about Food</a>

Have a great day!

Reply



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