An appetite for violets : a novel / Martine Bailey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bailey, Martine.

Contributor:

Roberta S. & Leonard S. Leibman, W'53 Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Household employees--England--Social conditions--18th century--Fiction.

Household employees.

Upper class--England--Social life and customs--18th century--Fiction.

Upper class.

Manners and customs.

Social conditions.

England--Social life and customs--18th century--Fiction.

England.

Household employees--Social conditions.

Upper class--Social life and customs.

Genre:

Fiction.

Historical fiction.

Suspense fiction.

Thrillers (Fiction)

Physical Description:

391 pages ; 25 cm

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press 2015.

Summary:

""That's how it is for us servants. No one pays you much heed; mostly you're invisible as furniture. Yet you overhear a conversation here, and add a little gossip there. Then you find something, something you should not have found." Irrepressible Biddy Leigh, under-cook at the foreboding Mawton Hall, only wants to marry her childhood sweetheart and set up her own tavern. But when her elderly master marries the young Lady Carinna, Biddy is unwittingly swept up in a world of scheming, secrets, and lies. Forced to accompany her new mistress to Italy, she documents her adventures and culinary discoveries in an old household book of recipes, The Cook's Jewel. Biddy grows intrigued by her fellow travelers, but her secretive and unconventional mistress is the most intriguing of all. In London Biddy finds herself attracted to her mistress's younger brother. In France she discovers her mistress's dark secret. At last in Italy, Biddy becomes embroiled in a murderous conspiracy, knowing the secrets she holds could be a key to a better life, or her downfall. Inspired by eighteenth-century household books of recipes and set at the time of the invention of the first restaurants, An Appetite for Violets is a literary feast for lovers of historical fiction. Like Jo Baker's Longbourn, it opens a window into the fascinating lives of servants, while also delivering a suspenseful tale of obsession and betrayal"-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 389-390).

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Roberta S. & Leonard S. Leibman, W'53 Fund.

ISBN:

9781250056917

1250056918

OCLC:

881041960

Publisher Number:

99961301090

Online:

Cover image