A review by kittykornerlibrarian
The Book of Salt by Monique Truong

5.0

This is a beautiful book... it's kind of a foodie book, but it's beautiful in so many other ways. Set in Vietnam (at the time when it was French Indo-China) and Paris in the 1910-20's, the first-person storyteller is a young gay Vietnamese man who studies under a chef in his home country and emigrates by boat to Paris, where he works as a cook for Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. The book is beautiful and deep and it's not just about the plot. It's about family and stories and names and flavors. Beautiful book.