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A review by whatjasread
Grace's Table by Sally Piper
3.0
This was another one of those books that I had chosen to review, that I was sceptical about. I didn't know much about it, other than that it focused on twelve people sitting at a very tense dinner table. In honesty, the book focuses on more than just this one gathering. Through a stream of consciousness narrative, Grace's Table examines the events of the past that have led up to the broken bonds between family members.
The stand-out point of this book for me was the ability to express emotions through food. In this sense, Grace's Table held a very personal meaning for me. In my own family, we often talk about the recipes that my great-grandparents would make, and about how we're no longer capable of making them the exact way they made them. While many people see women cooking as a misogynistic endeavour, I see it as a way to connect with my family and my culture, to really know where I'm from, to know the people and the culture that has shaped me into the person I am today.
This definitely shone through in Grace's Table. The way I cook is very different from the way my mum cooks, simply because she was raised in a very different environment and was taught by her mother. Grace's Table explores that difference through Grace and her daughter, Susan, who constantly frowns upon Grace's cooking methods. Grace's Table highlights the generational divide this way, and in many other ways.
The book also focuses on the consequences of loss and grief by telling the story of Claire, Grace's daughter who passed away as a child. Her death is ultimately the primary cause of the rift between family members, not to mention the abusive husband Grace survived. Narratives of abuse are never easy to write, but Sally Piper does a great job of it. She dedicates the narrative not only to the abuse of his wife but also of his children and the mother's helplessness to do anything about it in such a restrictive time period.
Grace's Table is very much a character-driven story rather than a plot-driven one. The events of the book take place over the span of a few hours (though the stream of consciousness, of course, dates much further back). At times this could be harrowing, particularly as numerous characters are insufferable with their superiority complexes and their ignorance towards grief and abuse. Nonetheless, Grace's Table is a work of elegant prose, telling the timeless story of generations past, present, and future.
Thank you to Legend Press and Sally Piper for this opportunity!
The stand-out point of this book for me was the ability to express emotions through food. In this sense, Grace's Table held a very personal meaning for me. In my own family, we often talk about the recipes that my great-grandparents would make, and about how we're no longer capable of making them the exact way they made them. While many people see women cooking as a misogynistic endeavour, I see it as a way to connect with my family and my culture, to really know where I'm from, to know the people and the culture that has shaped me into the person I am today.
This definitely shone through in Grace's Table. The way I cook is very different from the way my mum cooks, simply because she was raised in a very different environment and was taught by her mother. Grace's Table explores that difference through Grace and her daughter, Susan, who constantly frowns upon Grace's cooking methods. Grace's Table highlights the generational divide this way, and in many other ways.
The book also focuses on the consequences of loss and grief by telling the story of Claire, Grace's daughter who passed away as a child. Her death is ultimately the primary cause of the rift between family members, not to mention the abusive husband Grace survived. Narratives of abuse are never easy to write, but Sally Piper does a great job of it. She dedicates the narrative not only to the abuse of his wife but also of his children and the mother's helplessness to do anything about it in such a restrictive time period.
Grace's Table is very much a character-driven story rather than a plot-driven one. The events of the book take place over the span of a few hours (though the stream of consciousness, of course, dates much further back). At times this could be harrowing, particularly as numerous characters are insufferable with their superiority complexes and their ignorance towards grief and abuse. Nonetheless, Grace's Table is a work of elegant prose, telling the timeless story of generations past, present, and future.
Thank you to Legend Press and Sally Piper for this opportunity!