Food of Love, The

It took a little while for The Food Of Love to find its pace and I thought there was too much information offloaded during the early chapters, however once it gets up to speed this is a very readable book which I was glued to throughout an afternoon and evening. Prowse writes strong characters who really speak to her readers and I found myself caught up in the Braithwaite family's maelstrom of emotions. The only one I wasn't sure about was Freya herself because I found her need to always be centre stage absolutely infuriating. I couldn't decide from Prowse's presentation whether I was supposed to actually sympathise with Freya or want to slap her! I got quite angry at her repeated insistence on a 'mother's job' being to provide all care for her daughter even when it was obvious to me as an outsider that the claustrophobic home environment Freya created was causing Lexi more harm than good.

The Food Of Love is about anorexia and does contain scenes of distressing detail. There are heartrending moments and this novel certainly has the potential to be a tearjerker. I felt so sorry for Lexi's sidelined older sister Charlotte as the illness put all the family's lives on hold while they attempted to cope as best they could. I didn't like the emphasis on lists of delicious foods early on in the book as this seemed insensitive given where we would shortly be heading. I understand the potential for contrast, but thought the device was overused. Otherwise I enjoyed the read and would recommend The Food Of Love to fans of books such as Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper. Prowse packs the same emotional punch, but without being quite so heavily sentimental.