Recipes and spies in post war Germany. We join the #BlogTour for Miss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook.
Miss Graham – the blurb
“An ordinary woman. A book of recipes. The perfect cover for spying…
Sent to Germany in the chaotic aftermath of World War II, Edith Graham is finally getting the chance to do her bit. Having taught at a girls’ school during the conflict, she leaps at the opportunity to escape an ordinary life – but Edith is not everything she seems to be.
Under the guise of her innocent cover story, Edith has been recruited to root out Nazis who are trying to escape prosecution. Secretly, she is sending coding messages back to the UK, hidden inside innocuous recipes sent to a friend – after all, who would expect notes on sauerkraut to contain the clues that would crack a criminal underground network?
But the closer she gets to the truth, the muddier the line becomes between good and evil. In a dangerous world of shifting loyalties, when the enemy wears the face of a friend, who do you trust?”
A recipe for success
I love recipe books and books with recipes in them so Miss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook was immediately on to a winner. A range of dishes from multiple countries are incorporated all very ‘of the time.’ But don’t be fooled, it’s not a cook book that we are reading. You only need to look at the daily menu served in the Mess (Mock Turtle Soup, Viennese Steak, Raspberry Cream, Cheese and Biscuits and Coffee) and compare it to that of the Displaced Persons meagre diet (Potato skins cut fine tossed in flour and fried) to understand food’s significance to the story. No further words are needed to highlight the discrepancy between the two sides and the enormous task now faced by the Victors.
Food is ingrained in Miss Graham’s Cookbook. From the way Edith uses it to gain people’s trust to the way the Germans used it to starve undesirable children. Rees understands that food is powerful, and totally nails it in the book.
What a lady
I was impressed by plucky Edith (Miss Graham). It would have been very easy for a novice spy to go floundering around putting her foot in it. This was not Edith. Already used to living a duplicitous life this was a lady who had, had multiple lovers and who had previously spent time in Germany. She knew her worth and wasn’t afraid to use it to help people or to poke about in things that just didn’t seem right. I liked her and routed for her to succeed and be happy.
There is quite a cast in the Cookbook and you need to keep your wits about you as different parts of the plot are revealed. At around 450 pages there is enough space to let them all breathe but only just. I didn’t trust anybody which I can imagine is what it must have felt like for Edith, or for anyone in Germany around that time. Even people on the same side could be against you. Rees kept me guessing right until the end and balanced the heinous war stories against the delicious cakes perfectly.
Thanks
My thanks go to Harper Collins via the Random Things Tours for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. I loved it. Meaty and seasoned to perfection. Apologies for the terrible puns.
