December 2009 Good Housekeeping selection.
Deliciously entertaining and founded on solid hosting skills (Jekyll, who was sister-in-law to the gardening grand dame Gertrude, invited Browning and Ruskin to her first dinner party), Kitchen Essays makes a perfect present for those who thrill at the thought of clever food writing. Jekyll’s essays which were published in the 1920s with titles ranging from Tray Food to Sunday Supper, are both passionate and intelligent. Take a look at Persephone’s website or visit their enchanting little shops in London for other gift inspiration: all books celebrate wonderful, mainly female, neglected 20th century writers and are presented in the classic Persephone silver jacket and prettily designed end papers (www.persephonebooks.co.uk).
| Primary Genre | Non-Fiction Books of the Month |
The author of Kitchen Essays (1922) was sister-in-law to the great Gertrude Jekyll, whose biographer wrote that if she 'was an artist-gardener, then Agnes was an artist-housekeeper.' Agnes was a famous hostess (the guests at her first dinner party included Browning, Ruskin and Burne-Jones) and her home, Munstead House, 'was the apogee of opulent comfort and order without grandeur, smelling of pot-pourri furniture polish and wood smoke'.
During 1921-2 Lady Jekyll wrote unsigned essays for The Times with titles such as Tray Food and Sunday Supper. The Observer Food Magazine commended - 'lovely Persephone Books' for reprinting Kitchen Essays , India Knight in The Shops called it 'beautifully written, sparkling, witty and knowing, an absolute delight to read', while the BBC Food Magazine praised 'this exquisitely reprinted period piece'.
Kitchen Essays features in the following genres: Non-Fiction Books of the Month, Recommendations
Kitchen Essays is available in Paperback
Kitchen Essays was written by Agnes Jekyll and published by Persephone Books Ltd
Kitchen Essays has 264 pages
£12.60