Piglet is another recommendation from Red Magazine – and again I was grateful to be granted an advance review copy by Net Galley – here’s the blurb:
“For Piglet – an unshakable childhood nickname – getting married is her opportunity to reinvent. Together, Kit and Piglet are the picture of domestic bliss – effortless hosts, planning a covetable wedding … But if a life looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Thirteen days before they are due to be married, Kit reveals an awful truth, cracking the façade Piglet has created. It has the power to strip her of the life she has so carefully built, so smugly shared. To do something about it would be to self-destruct. But what will it cost her to do nothing?
As the hours count down to their wedding, Piglet is torn between a growing appetite and the desire to follow the recipe, follow the rules. Surely, with her husband, she could be herself again. Wouldn’t it be a waste for everything to curdle now?
Piglet is the searing, unforgettable and original debut which is set to take readers by storm in 2024.”
I think some of my friends are going to be nervous as I describe this as ‘unusual, different, really well written’ – as I used similar words when discussing The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt – and they have never forgiven me for making them read it!! But – unusual, different and really well written sum this up perfectly!
The book starts the summer before Piglet is due to marry Kit. Piglet is a childhood nickname (and one we use for our own kids!) and you don’t find out her real name until the very end. Piglet has escaped her suburban upbringing in Derby (she is very disparaging about Derby – which made me quite defensive, as I like it!) to move to Oxford (via London) to marry ‘upwards’. Kit and her future in laws are definitely a few rungs up the social mobility ladder than Piglet’s folks – and she is fully embracing her new life (where Vienetta would only be served ironically!)
Each chapter is counting down to the wedding – and just less than a fortnight to go before the wedding, Kit reveals a secret to Piglet. However, you don’t know what this secret is. I kept expecting it to be revealed – but it isn’t – and thus it’s really difficult to know how to process Piglet’s reaction. Is she over or under reacting??
The writing of the book is excellent – particularly the cooking and food aspects – they were incredibly evocative – and made me very hungry!! As well as the wedding – there are other things discussed – disordered eating, body image, friendships, family shame, keeping up appearances etc etc. But I’m still not really sure what I felt about the book. I didn’t particularly warm to Piglet or Kit – so was neither ‘team’. It just left more questions than answers. But it is very original – and the questions it generates will no doubt make it a winner for book club discussions!
A thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for my ARC. Piglet is out on the 25th January 2024