In The Kitchen by Monica Ali
In The Kitchen
By Monica Ali
Completed August 23, 2009
In The Kitchen by Monica Ali was like a good-looking, sweet-smelling dessert that held so much promise - until you sunk your teeth into it. Despite its delectable exterior, it turned out to be a book with little taste or appeal.
The recipe was classic. Gabriel Lightfoot was on the brink of culinary success, entering into a business agreement with investors for his own restaurant and involved in a promising relationship with the perfect woman. Then, one night, one of his porters died in the restaurant’s cellar, marking a downward spiral for Gabriel - his life methodically spinning out of control.
As if watching a character deteriorate was not hard enough, it was even harder to read how Gabriel made no attempt to get his life back together. His affair with Lena, a stone-cold wisp of a woman, and his treatment of his dying father did little to add to Gabriel’s plight - or his likeability. Not every character has to be likeable, but at least there should be a purpose in his general “unlikeability,” and I struggled to find that purpose in Gabriel.
I do applaud Ali’s attempts to elucidate the issues of immigration, sex trade and xenophobia in this story, but it was not enough. Her themes were right, but the story wasn’t.
While I had issues with the characterization and the plot, Ali’s writing was superb, and I do plan on reading more by this author. Simply put, In the Kitchen was not the story for me. (
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