Mrs Quinn’s Rise to Fame – Olivia Ford

Published By: Michael Joseph
Pages: 384
Released On: 28/03/2024

Nothing could be more out of character, but after fifty-nine years of marriage, as her husband Bernard’s health declines, and her friends’ lives become focused on their grandchildren–which Jenny never had–Jenny decides she wants a little something for herself. So she secretly applies to be a contestant on the prime-time TV show Britain Bakes.

Whisked into an unfamiliar world of cameras and timed challenges, Jenny delights in a new-found independence. But that independence, and the stress of the competition, starts to unearth memories buried decades ago. Chocolate teacakes remind her of a furtive errand involving a wedding ring; sugared doughnuts call up a stranger’s kind act; a simple cottage loaf brings back the moment her life changed forever.

With her baking star rising, Jenny struggles to keep a lid on that first secret–a long-concealed deceit that threatens to shatter the very foundations of her marriage. It’s the only time in six decades that she’s kept something from Bernard. By putting herself in the limelight, has Jenny created a recipe for disaster?

*****

Thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

Combining a book with a baking show is just a fabulous combination to me. I’ve heard a lot of positive things about this book, but I had been putting off reading it as I had other books to read beforehand, but it kept looking at me so I had to give in, and I’m glad I did.

It all sounds very real, very familiar, I wonder if Olivia has had anything to do with the likes of The Great British Bake Off beforehand, because it all sounds meticulously researched.

For some bizarre reason, I had it in my head that this was going to be a whodunnit. Like, someone dies on a cooking show and Mrs Quinn has to solve it. Don’t ask me why I thought that as it says nothing of it in the synopsis, and so I was surprised when I actually started reading it, but that’s okay, as it’s just splendid as it is.

It isn’t easy to portray the emotions that baking brings on a page, as it’s something you feel, and if you’re not overly experienced with baking it can be hard to understand what the fuss is about. But Olivia’s found that description and perfected it. You can feel the equipment, smell the cooking, taste the cake. It’s all very good without being over the top and straying into cookbook territory. Whilst it’s not a cookbook and therefore does not have recipes, various bakes are mentioned – cakes, biscuits, pies, bread etc. She’s created this real sense of nostalgia through food which is cosy and warming.

I don’t believe Kittlesham is a real village, but it should be as it sounds lovely and I want to visit!

I adored Jenny Quinn, she is absolutely gorgeous. And her husband Bernard, his heart is in the right place, he’s caring, and he dotes on Jenny. But Bernard is quite happy to accept his retirement and plod on, but Jenny isn’t. She wants a bit more out of life. There is this concern in the book that you’ve got two elderly people in their last phase of life, who have been together for decades…this idea that one of them may lose the other sooner rather than later. It’s sad but not over the top. It feels very real. There are a lot of other characters and whilst they’re all well written and great in their own way, for me, this was all about Jenny and Bernard. This was their story and it was beautiful.

It is such a cute book. That might make it sound a bit sappy, but I don’t mean it in a negative way, it is a really lovely cute story. But it’s never too twee. There is a lot of depth to it, a lot of heart and soul that made it more of a 3-dimensional story.

It’s mostly set in the present, but there’s several flashbacks to when Jenny was younger, and it is in those scenes where we begin to understand her relationship with baking and it really helped enhance the present scenes.

It was so addictive and easy to read that I read it in just a matter of hours. I just couldn’t bear to be away from it for long. It is very much a feel-good novel.

Even though I keep saying how uplifting and joyous it is, it doesn’t hide away from some very real topics, including aging, loneliness, marriage, relationships, family, mortality, illness, secrets, identity. Things everyone has, or known someone who has, experienced at one point in their life.

For a book “just” about an elderly lady who bakes, it is very moving. I found myself welling up on numerous occasions, and not just at the sad points. There is a whole lot of depth here that is very emotional and beautiful.