A review by katie_greenwinginmymouth
Butter Honey Pig Bread by francesca ekwuyasi

challenging emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is written so well and so fluidly that it’s hard to describe precisely how it’s good. The story is so compelling and so well crafted. Set between Lagos, London and Halifax in Canada the story follows the relationship between a mother and her twin daughters. There is a traumatic event that has repercussions into the twins’ adulthood causing the sisters to become estranged from each other. One of the sisters is growing into her identity as gay and questioning how these formative experiences have affected her ability to love and be loved. Their mother’s constant battle with her ọgbanje kin to keep living for her family in the flesh realm makes her role as a mother a constant challenge. 

I loved the way the book moves smoothly between these three points of view and different timelines, it never felt confusing and the pacing was perfect. There’s a really neat switch from third to first person for one of them at the end that was brilliant. At the book’s heart is the importance of food and cooking to our memories, emotions and culture. Recipes are described at length in the book and they form a sort of script for family interaction. It shows how we tie food to important events or to try to say something we can’t vocalise through food. I am a huge fan of books that do this and the it only made me love this book more. I was a broken shell by the end of it and read the last few chapters through floods of tears. Just phenomenal storytelling.
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