RECIPE FOR LIFE by Nicky Pellegrino

This is an early Nicky Pellegrino novel, 2010, and it is such a lovely piece of escapism, especially with the possibility of going to Italy so far off the programme for the foreseeable. Never mind! You can jump into this, starting off in the gloom and pressure cooker environment of London and ending up in the deliciousness of the south of Italy, with a bit of movement between the two as the story unfolds. It wouldn't be a Nicky-novel if food and the cooking of it wasn't a lead character, a bit of romance thrown in the pot, and some life lessons and wisdom added to the mix. 

Her formula works a treat, so why mess with it. Here we have Alice, early 20s, newly flatting with her oldest friend the beautiful exotic contrary Leila. Alice has a boyfriend, Charlie, but this is a bit rocky, and things get worse when Alice is raped in her bed, prompting the move to London and Leila's flat. Then she needs to find a job. A waitressing job in a local cafe turns into a move to an Italian restaurant owned by Tonino, a gifted chef and restaurateur who sees talent and potential in young Alice. He sends her to his home town in Italy for the summer to immerse herself in food - the growing and harvesting of, the cooking of and eating of. In one of those amazing coincidences that only happens in a novel such as this, Leila's mother has just bought a beautiful old home in the area, long neglected and abandoned save for the elderly Babetta and her husband Nunzio. 

Plenty of ups and downs happen over the course of the next few years in the lives of all the characters - Alice, Babetta, Nunzio, Tonino, his parents Rafaella and Ciro, brother Lucio, Leila and even Charlie. Food is at the centre of it all as is connections with one another,  as well as the growing and nurturing of new life, new loves, new enterprises - the recipe for life. All the characters could be real people, people you know or meet in your life,  likeable and relatable, dealing with problems and issues that the reader can easily relate to. And of course happy happy ending.