NEW RELEASE
The Secret Supper Club - Dana Bate (2012)
After Hannah Sugarman's unsuccessful meeting with her boyfriend's parents and embarrassing him at a party, he calls time on their relationship. She is left in a job she hates, with two professors as parents who are constantly trying to push her towards a future she doesn't want. Having moved out of the flat she shared with her boyfriend Hannah now finds herself living in a miniscule basement. The only thing that keeps her sane is her cooking, so when her best friend Rachel suggests she start a secret supper club in her new apartment, she agrees, after all what's the worst that can happen? But when her apartment floods she ends up running the supper club in her landlord's apartment whilst he is away on business, and if the trespassing and deception is not bad enough, her landlord just happens to be a rather upstanding citizen who is currently running for local office. As well as trying to keep the secret from her landlord, Hannah also has to keep up her day job which is becoming increasingly difficult, negotiate her love life and deflect her parents' continuous questions about fellowships and careers. The Secret Supper Club introduces a wonderfully witty new voice to chick lit, who has a great capacity for humour (with one uncharacteristic insensitive slip aside) and suspense. The actual supper clubs and the guests do not receive the main attention of the story but this is in no way a criticism, indeed, the plot works really well and the novel is a fun and energetic read. Be warned however that reading this may get your tummy rumbling; but the recipes at the back of the book offer a great solution. (JC)
The Secret Supper Club, by Dana Bate, is a story about finding yourself and fulfilling your dreams. It will be released as The Girls' Guide to Love and Supper Clubs in the US. The summary says: "Hannah Sugarman is a modern-day everygirl who seems to have it all. She works for an influential think tank in Washington, lives in a great apartment with her high-achieving boyfriend, and is poised for an academic career just like her famous parents. The only problem is that Hannah doesn't want any of it. What she wants is much simpler: to cook. When her relationship collapses, Hannah seizes the chance to start fresh and that means starting an underground supper club out of her new landlord's townhouse. Though wildly successful, her underground operation presents some problems. First, running an unlicensed restaurant out of someone's home is not, technically speaking, legal. And she might have forgotten to mention it to her landlord -- who just happens to be running for local office... On top of all this, Hannah is faced with various romantic prospects, all of which leave her confused, parents who don't think cooking is a career, as well as her own fears and doubts that threaten her dreams." Bate is a former broadcast journalist.