It’s the first Saturday of the month, which means it’s time for another Six Degrees of Separation, hosted by Kate of Books are my Favourite and Best. The idea is that Kate chooses a book to use as a starting point and then we have to link it to six other books of our choice to form a chain. A book doesn’t have to be connected to all of the others on the list – only to the one next to it in the chain.
This month we’re starting with Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. I haven’t read it and I’m not likely to, but here’s what it’s about:
After twenty-five years of ‘sex, drugs, bad behaviour and haute cuisine’, chef and novelist Anthony Bourdain has decided to tell all. From his first oyster in the Gironde to his lowly position as a dishwasher in a honky-tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown; from the kitchen of the Rainbow Room atop the Rockefeller Center to drug dealers in the East Village, from Tokyo to Paris and back to New York again, Bourdain’s tales of the kitchen are as passionate as they are unpredictable, as shocking as they are funny.
Using food and kitchens as my first link, John Saturnall’s Feast by Lawrence Norfolk (1) is set in the 17th century and tells the story of John Sandall, an orphan who is taken into the household of a wealthy nobleman, Sir William Fremantle. With his knowledge of food and ancient recipes, John is given the task of creating a meal to tempt Sir William’s daughter, who is refusing to eat as a protest against an arranged marriage. This is a complex, multi-layered novel with an unusual plot and a vivid portrayal of life in the kitchen!
The Feast by Margaret Kennedy (2) shares a word in the title, but is a very different book. Published in 1950, it follows a week in the lives of a group of guests who are staying in a hotel on the coast of Cornwall. We know from the beginning that by the end of the week the hotel will have been destroyed by a cliff collapsing on top of it, but we don’t know who will survive and who won’t. I really enjoyed this one; it’s one of my favourites so far by Margaret Kennedy.
Although it doesn’t form a big part of the plot, some of the characters in The Feast have traits that represent one of the seven deadly sins, which I thought was a clever touch. Anne Zouroudi’s Greek Detective series, which follows the investigations of the mysterious Hermes Diaktoros, also uses one of the seven sins as a theme for each novel. The Doctor of Thessaly (3) is the third book in the series, although they can be read in any order, and this one has ‘envy’ as its theme.
I haven’t read many authors whose surname begins with the letter Z, but one of them is Émile Zola. I’ve read three of his books so far and my favourite is Thérèse Raquin (4), the first one I read and a standalone novel which is not part of his longer Rougon-Macquart cycle. This is a very dark novel about two people who commit a terrible crime and the psychological effect this has on the rest of their lives.
I’m going to use a word in the title again for my next link, which leads me to 13, rue Thérèse by Elena Mauli Shapiro (5). This unusual and imaginative novel begins with a man discovering a box full of photographs, letters, postcards and other items that once belonged to Louise Brunet, a Frenchwoman who lived through both world wars. We are given a picture of each item, followed by a few pages of story describing the item’s significance and background, and gradually Louise’s history begins to unfold.
My final link uses the number 13. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (6) is the story of a young woman who agrees to write the biography of a reclusive author. It’s an entertaining read, clearly inspired by several classic Gothic novels, and I described it in my review as a tale of ‘Yorkshire moors, twins, mistaken identities, ghosts and governesses’.
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And that’s my chain for this month! My links have included: Kitchens, the word ‘Feast’, the seven deadly sins, author names beginning with Z, the name Thérèse and the number thirteen.
In January we’ll be starting with Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.
She Reads Novels 
Very nice chain Helen. I really enjoyed The Thirteenth Tale.
Yes, The Thirteenth Tale was fun. I love that kind of book.
So lovely to see Margaret Kennedy’s book there and also Anne Zouroudi, who seems to have been forgotten a bit lately.
I’ve only read two of the Anne Zouroudi series but I did enjoy them and it’s a shame she doesn’t seem to have had anything else published for a while. I’ll have to go back and read the others.
That’s a really interesting chain, and I wouldn’t necessarily have gone in that direction – but I loved The Feast so much that I should have thought of it!!
Yes, The Feast is a great book! I’ve read very little by Margaret Kennedy, but that one and Troy Chimneys are my favourites so far.
There seems to be so much to enjoy here: these are books I don’t know (apart from the Zola), though Margaret Kennedy’s name has come up more than once lately. They’ll ALL go on the TBR!
I enjoyed all of these, particularly the Margaret Kennedy. Definitely worth adding them to the TBR!
I see you included The Feast… me too! What an interesting book that was!
Yes, The Feast was a fascinating book. I loved it!
John Saturnall’s Feast has been sitting on my list since I read Lemprierre’s Dictionary ages ago. Thanks for the nudge towards actually reading it!
John Saturnall’s Feast is still the only book I’ve read by Lawrence Norfolk, but Lempriere’s Dictionary is on my TBR.
My other first thought was John Saturnall’s Feast too – but I’ve used that a couple of times before. I loved that book so much. The Feast is on my shelves.
Yes, I try to avoid using the same books in my chains too often too. The Feast is great – I hope you like it when you get round to it.
Feast sounds like such an interesting read! I am going to need to track that one down. Loved The Thirteenth Tale when I read it years ago!
I really enjoyed The Feast, so I definitely recommend tracking it down. And yes, The Thirteenth Tale was fun!
An interesting chain and at least three to add to my TBR…
Thanks – I enjoyed putting this chain together. I’m glad some of these books interest you.
You have chosen some intriguing books this month Helen, and reminded me of one or two that I must try to read in the new year. Some of your links are very clever. And next month’s book offers another author begiining with Z.
I didn’t notice that next month’s author begins with Z – that’s a coincidence!
Great links! And I’m glad you got away from food towards the end – all these chains have been making me extremely hungry! 😉
I did wonder if I could keep the food theme going for the rest of the chain, but it was more difficult than I expected so I abandoned the idea!
I loved your chain, I haven’t read anything and The Feast look fabulous!
The Feast is great, probably my favourite of the six books in my chain!