Farewell 2023

Ren Behan’s THE SWEET POLISH KITCHEN out front and centre at Waterstones Piccadilly.

There has been much to celebrate in November and December and it’s pleasing to be ending the year with Molly Green’s new novel WARTIME WISHES AT BLETCHLEY PARK zipping straight into the Bookseller’s ‘Heatseekers Fiction’ chart at number 2.

It has also been satisfying to see the excellent reception to Ren Behan’s second book THE SWEET POLISH KITCHEN in the US.  Published at the start of December by Interlink, it has a starred review in Publishers’ Weekly and will be coming out in the UK in February 2024.

Thuy Diem Pham’s book launch at Fortnum & Mason in mid-November was an evening of utter deliciousness.  She showcased recipes from her new book VIETNAMESE MADE EASY and talked to guests about her approach to ingredients and the cooking ethos that has been passed down through the women in her family.

Thanks to Village Books in Dulwich, Heather, Elly and DK Editor, Cara Armstrong, enjoyed a night of gin-sampling with author Anthony Gladman.  Happily, his book GIN: A TASTING COURSE has been chosen by Radio 4’s The Food Programme ‘Books of 2023’.  On which note, Melissa Thompson is now a regular contributor to Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet on Saturday mornings (repeated on Tuesdays).

Heather was proud to be part of the celebration for poet Neil Rollison, winner of the 2023 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers’ Award for his first novel, held in the stunning Faber offices, and of the David Miller paid Internship Programme with its partner Creative Access.  She has fond memories of working with Deborah and David (both such impressive agents and both fun company) when she was a publisher at Headline.  Heather was also delighted to see Anne de Courcy win the Biographers’ Club’s Exceptional Contribution to Biography Award, hurrah for her particular favourite The Fishing Fleet (published in 2013), Anne’s marvellous book about the young women who sailed to India during the Raj looking for a husband.   

Chef and cookery crime writer Rosemary Shrager will be appearing on TV’s Jeremy Vine on 5 on Friday 22nd December and look out for Saliha Mahmood Ahmed who will settle us into the new year on Saturday Kitchen on 6th January.