“By turns quirky, hilarious and vividly sensory, Kitchens of the Great Midwest is about the bittersweet nature of life- its missed opportunities and its joyful surprises.”
Wanting something to rescue me from the throes of boring-ness that was college orientation, I, of course, went to a bookstore and found Kitchens of the Great Midwest. Small in size and simple in cover, it is masterful in writing, and perhaps one of the best novels that I read during my long summer.
The story follows Eva Thorvald through her upbringing and middle adulthood- food, of course, being the second most important character. We see Eva as a young girl, growing peppers so spicy the smell could almost harm someone who lacks her taste. We follow her as she becomes a protégé and learns to cook the way she was meant to, but most importantly, we watch the other characters in awe of her. Though she might not see herself as even ordinary, she is in fact extraordinary in her taste and talent.
Told in vignettes that string together through characters, Kitchens explores many of the lives that Eva touches in good and bad ways. We meet her first love, and follow their relationship throughout its termination. We meet characters who need guidance and strength in times of hardship, and our hearts warm as Eva touches them in her own special way. Perhaps my favorite thing about the novel is that the hardships that come about are almost always left unsolved. As the reader continues on, they will later meet these characters in times of success and happiness, always finding that even the hardest of problems are perhaps solved in time- and that even mistakes can create something beautiful in their wake.
As life carries on and people- ones you love and ones you hate come and go, one thing stays constant in the novel- food. Throughout the stories, we find food is the ultimate comfort, food is what brings people together, and food is often the ultimate test in character of the people involved. Though Eva possesses unsurmountable talent for creating dishes that are described so as to make ones’ mouth water, never far off is a lesson that reaches much deeper than what is sitting on a plate. We find that the most virtuous people have good patience and similarly impeccable timing, that what is right might not always be popular, and that what looks hard may reveal itself to be beautiful in meaning. Eva, who is, as a person, the perfect combination of sweet and sharp, will steal your heart with her unfailing will to be kind to others and to share with them her talents- food being among the most important.
Quirky and altogether satisfying, this book is something akin to a perfect meal- full of all of the most important components of life- love, laughter, hardship, surprises, success, and of course, food!
