Review: The Food of Love by Amanda Prowse.

My 5* Review: 

The Food of Love is my first Amanda Prowse novel, but it certainly won’t be the last. I’ve heard a lot about the author and her books on Facebook book pages and kept wanting to read them but never quite getting round to it. But when I read the blurb for The Food of Love I really wanted to read it. So I did.

What I read was a very well researched book that told the story of a family torn apart by anorexia.

Food had always played an important part in the lives of the Braithwaite family, Mum Freya spends her days writing about food and every meal was a veritable feast. Youngest daughter Lexi was on a health kick, having grown up slightly podgy she was running regularly and Freya was happy with this change. She put it down to Lexi’s interest in a boy at school.

When Lexi’s school called Freya in to talk to her about their concerns about Lexi and the fact that she was losing weight and not eating Freya dismissed their concerns. She knew her daughter and she’d sat with her at the kitchen table every night watching her eat her dinner. Husband Lockie agreed with Freya and family life continued.

Soon enough Freya was forced to accept that maybe Lexi did having a problem with eating, something that was clearly very uncomfortable for her to face, Lexi had a healthy dose of denial about the seriousness of Lexi’s problem.

I loved how the book was written, how each member of the family dealt with what was happening differently and how it pulled the family apart. I especially loved the relationship between Lockie and Freya, could such a strong and loving relationship handle anorexia in the family?

I think that The Food of Love will really open people’s eyes about anorexia and the shocking impact that it can have, and the lengths that someone with anorexia will go to in order to hide it.  I know that many don’t understand why the person just can’t eat and get on with it, but this book cleverly shows the reader how it really isn’t that simple and how distressing anorexia can be for the sufferer but also for those around them. If you know someone with anorexia and struggle to understand it then read this book, if you have a friend whose daughter is anorexic then read this book and if you are the parent to young children then read this book.

Although The Food of Love wasn’t always easy to read I found it such a good book and one that sucked me right in, took me on a real emotional rollercoaster and made me care for the family. Sure, at times I wanted to shout at Freya to kick her out of her denial and her insistence that she could make Lexi better, but I also understood and empathised with where she was coming from.

I for one look forward to the next Amanda Prowse book that I will read, she is definitely an author to follow.

I received a copy of The Food of Love from Netgalley, this has not affected my review.

Blurb:

A loving mother. A perfect family. A shock wave that could shatter everything.

Freya Braithwaite knows she is lucky. Nineteen years of marriage to a man who still warms her soul and two beautiful teenage daughters to show for it: confident Charlotte and thoughtful Lexi. Her home is filled with love and laughter.

But when Lexi’s struggles with weight take control of her life, everything Freya once took for granted falls apart, leaving the whole family with a sense of helplessness that can only be confronted with understanding, unity and, above all, love.

In this compelling and heart-wrenching new work by bestselling author Amanda Prowse, one ordinary family tackles unexpected difficulties and discovers that love can find its way through life’s darkest moments.

The Food of Love is out now and available from Amazon UK and Amazon US.