White Truffles in Winter

“Rich in sensory delights . . . the kind of masterpiece readers will want to savor.”―Minneapolis Star-TribuneAuguste Escoffier (1846–1935) was the unparalleled French chef whose impact on restaurants and high cuisine is still with us. He was also a complicated man―kind yet imperious, food obsessed yet rarely hungry, capable of great passion and inscrutable reserve. In this lushly imagined new novel, N. M. Kelby transports us into Escoffier’s private world, weaving a sensual story of food and longing, war and romance.The novel opens near the end of Escoffier’s life, as he writes his memoirs. He has witnessed a tumultuous sweep of history from a unique position, and he recounts his days as a cook in the Franco-Prussian War, a chef for the beau monde in Paris and at the London’s Savoy, and a confidant of royalty and world leaders.The heart of Escoffier’s story, however, lies in his love for two very different women: the famously beautiful and reckless actress Sarah Bernhardt, one of the most adored women of her day, and his wife, the independent and sublime poet Delphine Daffis, whose hand in marriage Escoffier gambled for, only to live apart from her for much of his career.Now Escoffier has retired and returned to Delphine. She requests just one thing: that he produce a dish in her name as he has done for so many, including Bernhardt and Queen Victoria. Yet how does one re-create the complexity of love in a single recipe? The great chef has no idea. Aided by a headstrong young cook who looks remarkably like Bernhardt, Escoffier must rediscover food’s emotional capacity, its ability to communicate passion, regret, grief, forgiveness, and love.

Literature & Fiction

N.M.Kelby

Literary

BOOKS ON TAPE]

A compelling novel of dark miracles and angelic visitation, set in a Nazi-occupied Belgian town that is scented by chocolate and haunted by war.
It is World War II, a small village in France near the border of Belgium. Marie Claire is a young French Jew, cared for by her grandmother, who cultivates flowers. A shattering of glass, and Marie Claire's village is in rubble. Her grandmother is dead, everyone is dead. She flees to the root cellar of her grandmother's house and waits . . .
She is saved by two Belgian nuns who take Marie Claire away to their convent in Tournai, Belgium, where they have been hiding Jews for transport to Switzerland. It is then that the miracles begin. Is Marie Claire causing them The answer to that question remains mysterious until the last pages of this entirely original debut. In a town scented with chocolate, haunted by memories of the past and the desperation of the present, the miraculous is sometimes hard to recognize. A suspenseful novel of enormous power and sensitivity, In the Company of Angels introduces a distinctly imaginative new voice in fiction.

In the Company of Angels: A Novel

Contemporary

Hyperion

Theater of the Stars: A Novel of Physics and Memory

United States

Hyperion Books

Whale Season (Lib)(CD)

White truffles in winter imagines the world of the remarkable french chef auguste escoffier (1846-1935), who changed how we eat through his legendary restaurants at the savoy and the ritz a man of contradictions - kind yet imperious, food-obsessed yet rarely hungry - escoffier was also torn between two women: the famous, beautiful, and reckless actress sarah bernhardt and his wife, the independent and sublime poet delphine daffis, who refused ever to leave monte carlo in the last year of escoffiers life, in the middle of writing his memoirs, he has returned to delphine, who requests a dish in her name as he has honored bernhardt, queen victoria, and many others

Genre Fiction

Alma Books Ltd.

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Books by N.M.Kelby