The cook, food writer and restaurateur picks her favourites. Her latest book, "Mexican Table", is out now, and she will be speaking at the Queen's Park Book Festival on 31 August.
A Visit to Don Otavio
The God of Small Things
Arundhati Roy, 1997
A stunning novel about a pair of twins, about love, loss and the impact of colonialism. I am a twin, so this book felt acutely personal (I had also just come back from Kerala, where it is set). I grew up on Latin American magical realism, which chimes beautifully with Indian literature of the same style, so I was completely won over.
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Ultra-Processed People
Chris van Tulleken, 2023
So many have been trying for so long to shine a light on the dark, unhealthy secrets behind Big Food, but Chris van Tulleken has managed to blast through the attempts to stifle debate in this brilliant, focused book. A must-read.
The Girl with the Louding Voice
Abi Daré, 2020
I adored this tale of a Nigerian girl determined to throw off the chains put on her simply by virtue of being born a girl, and to find her voice through a tireless quest for an education.
Barnaby Rudge
Charles Dickens, 1841
Love, social unrest, mob uprisings against the system, the lure of populism, and brilliant descriptions of poverty – this novel has it all. I have discovered Dickens late in life and this is one of my favourites.
Small Things Like These
Claire Keegan, 2021
A beautiful gem of a novel about one man's bravery in standing up against an unjust system. I read it in a day.
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