Author: Eli Brown
Type: Novel
Genre: Fiction
Series: No
Pages: 318
Copyright: 2013
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Rating: 4 out of 5
Summary: from GoodReads.
A gripping adventure, a seaborne romance, and a twist on the tale of Scheherazade—with the best food ever served aboard a pirate’s ship
The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail.
To appease the red-haired captain, Wedgwood gets cracking with the meager supplies on board. His first triumph at sea is actual bread, made from a sourdough starter that he leavens in a tin under his shirt throughout a roaring battle, as men are cutlassed all around him. Soon he’s making tea-smoked eel and brewing pineapple-banana cider.
But Mabbot—who exerts a curious draw on the chef—is under siege. Hunted by a deadly privateer and plagued by a saboteur hidden on her ship, she pushes her crew past exhaustion in her search for the notorious Brass Fox. As Wedgwood begins to sense a method to Mabbot’s madness, he must rely on the bizarre crewmembers he once feared: Mr. Apples, the fearsome giant who loves to knit; Feng and Bai, martial arts masters sworn to defend their captain; and Joshua, the deaf cabin boy who becomes the son Wedgwood never had.
Cinnamon and Gunpowder is a swashbuckling epicure’s adventure simmered over a surprisingly touching love story—with a dash of the strangest, most delightful cookbook never written. Eli Brown has crafted a uniquely entertaining novel full of adventure: the Scheherazade story turned on its head, at sea, with food.
Feelings:
Let me start by saying I really liked the texture of the cover. I read the hardcover, but hope that the paperback also has a nice texture like the hardcover.
At first I thought I might have trouble reading the book when a fight was described using food analogies. This was not a food fight.
"Mr. Percy, finally realizing his obligation to protect his guests, made a valiant attempt to retrieve an heirloom sword from the mantel, but the massive Mr. Apples brought down his fist and ruined Mr. Percy's face as a child ruins a pie." (page 7)I ended up really liking chef Owen Wedgwood, the narrator. The story is told as though it is a journal that Wedgwood is writing. The story was really fun and fast passed. After Wedgwood is taken by Hannah Mabbot, who enters in the middle of a dinner party, the story really gets going. Before that the story is more of a list of Wedgwood's worries about creating a meal for the wealthy. As Wedgwood becomes more a pirate himself as the novel progresses the story takes some unexpected turns.
When we first meet Hannah Mabbot her men have just broken down the door are subduing the party guests.
"Then entered a pillar of menace, a woman in an olive long-coat. Her red hair hung loose over he shoulders. She sauntered to the middle of the room, her coat opening to reveal jade-handled pistols. Using a chair as a stepping stool, she walked upon the dining table to Lord Ramsey's plate and stood there looking down, as if she had just conquered Kilimanjaro. Her boots added inches to her already long frame. No one dared tell her, apparently, that tall women confuse the eye." (page 6)
This is a very enjoyable, funny, story and I highly recommend it.
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