A review by wordsmithreads
Piglet by Lottie Hazell

emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am not someone who cares about food writing. Descriptions of baking, of chopping vegetables or preparing a glaze do not romance me into feeling any particular way. And yet, after finishing this, I stood at the stove, wondering, “What if I added [blank] to this? Maybe this seasoning? Would these pair well?” Hazell’s debut would be delectable for the food descriptions alone, but the pointed plotlines around women, women’s eating habits, and control — Follow the recipe, follow the rules, Hazell writes at one point — are spun like the sugar of the croquembouche. I found myself marveling at how many phrases and adjectives in our language are food-based — devoured, hungered, gorging, bitter, soured, sweet. They are sprinkled (seasoned?) artfully throughout the text as Hazell bakes (okay, I’ll stop) the picture of Piglet’s spiraling gluttony in response to her to-be-husband’s betrayal. Many plot points are implied, including the true reason behind Piglet’s nickname, but I was never lost in the plot. I loved Piglet, even when she was making bad decisions. All the tension leading up to the wedding day was excellent. And I was very pleased to find out that Hazell has a PhD in creative writing, and her research is on food-writing in twenty-first-century fiction — that added another great layer to this smart read.
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