Gets a little less cliched and more interesting as it goes on. But still a little all over the place and confusing. Not the worst historical fiction I've read but not the best. ( )

OMNOMNOM! Ich steh ja auf exzessive Essensbeschreibungen. Viel mehr passiert da auch nicht, reicht aber aus. ( )

John Saturnall's Feast by Lawrence Norfolk

John Sandall and his mother are both outsiders. His mother, a healer and herbalist, is rumored to be a witch, and although no one knows who John's father was, he was obviously a black man. John's mother tries to teach him everything she knows, reading from a book she carries with her everywhere. Things get worse for them when a radical puritan preacher comes to town, and when people start to fall ill of a strange fever, of course it is blamed on "the witch." Their house burned, John and his mother escape to the woods, where she tells him the ancient story of a beautiful queen whose people lived in peace and plenty until an invader came and destroyed everything in sight. Without food, the people survived on memories of their annual feast, a feast where everyone was welcomed, and John and his mother feed off their imagining of that feast.

But dreams of food can only take one so far. John's mother dies, and he takes to the road until he is picked up by a man sent to take him to Buckland Manor, where is is to join the kitchen staff, changing his last name to Saturnall to avoid persecution by the witch-hunting puritans. Starting out with the lowest tasks, he eventually works his way up to becoming the the best cook in the kingdom, in part by using his memories of the great feast described by his mother. It's not an easy journey, especially in the years building up to the English Civil War and Cromwell's Commonwealth. And John has to deal with Coates, a jealous kitchen boy who constantly harasses him and tries to spoil his every success, and with Lady Lucretia, Lord Fremantle's haughty daughter.

John's story is told in between the chapters of his own cookbook. Each is headed by a particular recipe made for a particular event, accompanied by woodcuts. As the novel progresses, John (and the reader) learns more about his own past and the connections between his family and that of the Fremantles. I am not a big fan of fantasy, so the "magical" element put me off at first, as did the overly long, detailed descriptions of food being prepared. Still, the novel won me over in time, and in the course of the 30+ years it covers, there's plenty of action, intrigue, and even a little romance. I liked it well enough that I will be looking into this author's other works. ( )

If you have read Lempriere's Dictionary then I need to say no more. If you haven't then why are you just standing there? Go and read it right now!

As trite as that sounds I am also sincere. This novel is an extravaganza of mythology and cooking. Not cooking like all the mind dead shite on television but cooking in the sense of alchemy, the taking of the core elements and understanding their narartives before using them to create a mystery that always has a happy ending.

Whilst this review is drivel, the book is not. I found it gripping because the story unfolds across many spheres, the characters call us by name and the smell of everything pulls you by the nose into another world.

The kitchen scenes reminded me of Gormenghast and The Sorceror's Apprentice. A coming of age, heroes journey that is wonderfully rounded. Loved it. ( )

Het feestmaal van John Satturnall is een verpletterende historische roman die zich situeert in het Engeland van de 17 de eeuw. Het leven van John wordt gevolgd. Het is 1625 als Susan en haar zoontje uit het dorpje Buckland op de vlucht slagen, ze worden op de hielen gezeten door een groep obscure dorpelingen die haar als een heks aanzien. Ze verschuilen zich in het woud, waar Susan haar zoon eeuwenoude recepten onthuld, maar ze zal de ijskoude winter niet overleven. John wordt naar het landgoed Buckland Manor gebracht - bruuske eerste ontmoeting met Lucretia - waar hij aan het werk gezet wordt in de omvangrijke ondergrondse keukens. Eerst slijt hij de dagen als bordenwasser, maar omwille van zijn fenomenaal gevoel voor smaak mag hij al snel bij de kok werken. Een speciaal gerecht dat hij voor koning Karel I - vermoord in de op til zijnde Civil War - ontwerpt, brengt hem opnieuw in contact met de eigenwijze dochter des huizes Lucretia Fremantle. John ontmoet in de kasteelkeukens diverse getalenteerde medewerkers, de band tussen zijn moeder en Buckland Manor wordt met mondjesmaat uitgeklaard in de loop van het verhaal.
Bourgondische banketten zijn een uitdaging voor je zintuigen! Het uitgebreide, rijkelijke en strak georganiseerde keukenleven lijkt wel de kern van de Manor, tot tijden van oorlog en religieus obscurantisme dit verstoren.
Boven dit verhaal hier en nu en parallel ermee is er de legende van 'Het feestmaal':de mythische Bellicca bracht het Feestmaal naar de Vallei en veranderde die in een tuin van Eden voor iedereen die er woonde. Het christendom duldt geen hemel op aarde, verjaagt en vernietigt deze bucolische wereld. Alleen het boek blijft bewaard.
Wervelend geschreven, niet te missen voor wie een inkijk wil in de geheimen van de Bourgondische keukens. ( )