Risotto with nettles

Sample

Nancy Mehagian

Set against the backdrop of the late '60s and early '70s, Nancy Mehagian's delicious memoir tells the tale of a young woman who heeded the siren's call to a life of freedom and romance. A first-generation Armenian American whose family narrowly escaped genocide, the rebellious daughter left behind the safety and security of suburban life for an unforgettable adventure that would find her establishing the first vegetarian restaurant on the Spanish island of Ibiza, having an affair with a Bedouin gypsy during a stint as a cabaret dancer in Syria, and through a series of mishaps, incarcerated for 16 months in a London prison (along with her newborn baby) where she managed, even there, to pioneer a healthy way of eating. --publisher's description.

Sample

Clarissa Dickson Wright

Clarissa was born into wealth and privilege. As a child, shooting and hunting were the norm and pigeons were flown in from Cairo for supper. Her mother was an Australian heiress, her father was a brilliant surgeon. But he was also a tyrannical and violent drunk. Clarissa was determined and clever, though, and her ambition led her to a career in the law. At the age of 21, she was the youngest ever woman to be called to the Bar. Then disaster struck when her adored mother died suddenly. It was to lead to a mind-numbing decade of wild over-indulgence. Rich from her inheritance, in the end Clarissa had partied away her entire fortune. It was a long, hard road to recovery along which Clarissa finally faced her demons and turned to the one thing that had always brought her joy - cooking. Now at last she has found success, sobriety - and peace.

Sample

Susan Wiggs

Isabel Johansen, a celebrated chef who grew up in the sleepy Sonoma town of Archangel, is transforming her childhood home into a destination cooking school - a unique place for other dreamers to come and learn the culinary arts. Bella Vista's rambling mission-style hacienda, with its working apple orchards, bountiful gardens and beehives, is the idyllic venue for Isabel's project...and the perfect place for her to forget the past. But Isabel's carefully ordered plans begin to go awry when swaggering, war-torn journalist Cormac O'Neill arrives to dig up old history. He's always been better at exposing the lives of others than showing his own closely-guarded heart, but the pleasures of small-town life and the searing sensuality of Isabel's kitchen coax him into revealing a few truths of his own.

Sample

Pam Anderson, Maggy Keet & Sharon Damelio

When the women behind the blog Three Many Cooks gather in the busiest room in the house, there are never too many cooks in the kitchen. Now cookbook author Pam Anderson and her daughters Maggy Keet and Sharon Damelio blend reflections and well-loved recipes into one book.