"Rose-gold" peaches and the "glory of a freshly baked bread" are simple luxuries the heroine craves in Catherine Kurtz's Feast, a tantalizing 19th-century drama fueled by royal intrigue and culinary decadence. Shifting from the English Channel to the French countryside, Feast is the story of Minha, a young woman coerced into servitude as a "poison taster" for Duc Nicolas at the majestic Château Bellefalaise, and her miraculous path to freedom.
The staff at the château are hostile toward the poison taster, suspicious of Minha's dark complexion and her extraordinary sense of smell ever since she detected rat poison in a roasted duck prepared for the duc's birthday. Who was responsible for the toxin is a question that lingers menacingly in the stifled air of the servants' quarters, a sense of danger that lurks between the upstairs and downstairs worlds of the castle. One night, Minha stumbles upon a young man hiding in the stables. Weak and starving, he awakens in her a sense of purpose. It is here that Kurtz's thrilling saga plunges into the adventure at the heart of Feast, as Minha finds herself falling for this curious stranger whose destiny, she is convinced, is tied to her own.
An artist and food journalist, Kurtz skillfully layers strong flavors, scents, and emotions into her imagery of Minha's world. Color seeps through the page, from the "gentle dove gray" of dawn to the "pink-blushed" velvet of the royal horses Minha secretly visits for companionship. Readers will devour Kurtz's marvelous debut, cheering Minha as she takes center stage in her own story and, for the first time, truly feasts on life. --Shahina Piyarali