Picks of the week…

1. The Land Where Lemons Grow, Helena Atlee 

Helena Atlee combines some of our favourite things, food and history as she guides us though Italy’s culinary and cultural past.

‘Attlee, who knows and loves Italy and the Italians, takes the reader through the country’s scented gardens with her sharp descriptions, pertinent stories and quotes and intriguing recipes.’ -Sunday Telegraph

‘Helena Attlee’s writing in The Land Where Lemons Grow is so sharp and evocative that she could have been writing about potatoes in Plymouth: She’d still have had me gripped. Ms. Attlee has that rare gift of being able to know an inordinate amount about a subject and yet wear her knowledge so lightly that the tone is anecdotal, not academic. It’s a big thing, to pull off such lightness. Through the citrus groves and scented gardens of Italy, she weaves in and out of history and horticulture, fusing them together with stories and surprises, romance and recipes, tastings and travelogues. I loved it’ – Yotam Ottolenghi

 

 

2. Circe, Madeline Miller 

‘Greek classic thrums with contemporary relevance’ – The Guardian