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A review by fleeno
Piglet by Lottie Hazell
4.0
Piglet is in her early 30s, unable to shake a childhood nickname given to her by her family, and is set to marry Kit. Piglet can't help compare their families, hers poor, Northern, thinks viennetta ice cream is the high of luxury (they're not wrong), while Kits family are proper, Tory, provide a significant deposit for their home in Oxford and are paying for a lavish wedding. Piglet works for a publishing house that specialises in books about food and her life revolves around hunger. But Piglet is convinced once she is married, she will be fully immersed in her new life and she will finally be satisfied. Then Kit reveals a secret 2 weeks before the wedding which threatens to shatter her perfect future. How do you cancel a wedding when the invitations have been sent, the guests are coming from out of town, and you've told everyone you're making your own croquembouche wedding cake?
This was such a beautifully written novel, what isn't written is just as powerful as what is. Like Piglets real name, which no one calls her, the secret Kit tells her is never spoken of and this gives it even more power. Piglet's appearance or weight is never described in detail but how Piglet views herself, the things she says to herself, how she views herself, and how others treat her is very telling - and honestly familiar. Although Piglet doesn't have an eating disorder (unlike her favoured sister) she does have a complex relationship with food and poor coping mechanisms. Piglet's family are awful. They laugh about her childhood "greediness", pick on her wedding dress, judge her house and career. Kits family similarly are awful in a different way, his mother buys Piglet a PT voucher as an engagement gift!
The writing in this book is simple, largely dialogue and descriptions of food (which serve as a metaphore) but it is so emotional. Although Piglet wasn't a particularly likable character I felt for her. The unnamed betrayal was cutting, her shame, embarrassment, fear, anxiety, were dripping from every sentence without ever being uttered. Hazell has been so clever with her choice of words and writing style, I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel.
This was such a beautifully written novel, what isn't written is just as powerful as what is. Like Piglets real name, which no one calls her, the secret Kit tells her is never spoken of and this gives it even more power. Piglet's appearance or weight is never described in detail but how Piglet views herself, the things she says to herself, how she views herself, and how others treat her is very telling - and honestly familiar. Although Piglet doesn't have an eating disorder (unlike her favoured sister) she does have a complex relationship with food and poor coping mechanisms. Piglet's family are awful. They laugh about her childhood "greediness", pick on her wedding dress, judge her house and career. Kits family similarly are awful in a different way, his mother buys Piglet a PT voucher as an engagement gift!
The writing in this book is simple, largely dialogue and descriptions of food (which serve as a metaphore) but it is so emotional. Although Piglet wasn't a particularly likable character I felt for her. The unnamed betrayal was cutting, her shame, embarrassment, fear, anxiety, were dripping from every sentence without ever being uttered. Hazell has been so clever with her choice of words and writing style, I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Eating disorder