Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford

MRS. QUINN'S RISE TO FAME by Olivia Ford certainly celebrates food, especially baking, but it also harbors some dark secrets despite its colorful, attractive cover. In this debut novel, Jenny Quinn is seventy-seven (married to Bernard for almost sixty years) when she decides to stealthily apply to Britain Bakes (yes, think The Great British Baking Show) and takes readers through her many bakes and memories, with numerous flashbacks to her childhood and life choices as a young woman. As she reflects, “it's strange, ... how recipes outlive the people that wrote them and yet they almost bring a part of that person back to life, as if a tiny piece of their soul lives in those instructions.” Even as she seems to take him a smidgen for granted, her husband is very supportive and patient, and summarizes the success of their long marriage, saying, “over the years you will both inevitably change but you will always have one thing in common, and that is that you're both only human, so try to be kind.” MRS. QUINN'S RISE TO FAME was one of Washington Post's 10 Noteworthy Books for January and an early draft was long-listed for the Women’s Prize Trust’s Discoveries Prize.

Readers looking for a “cozy” read with likeable characters, a bit of history, and centered on cooking may also want to explore: Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, Love & Saffron, The Kitchen Front, and, of course, Lessons in Chemistry. More of a mystery element behind the scenes of a cooking contest is available in The Golden Spoon.