Feast, Paperback/Catherine Kurtz

In the soot-streaked alleys of 19th-century London, Minha is a girl unlike any other - born with an extraordinary gift: an overwhelming, all-consuming sense of taste. Desperate to escape a life of poverty, she crosses the sea to France, chasing the shimmer of a better future. At Château de Bellefalaise, a grand estate with fairytale turrets perched above a sleepy village, Minha's talent is discovered when she detects poison in a dish about to be served to the château's master, Duc Nicolas. For the first time in her life, her strange ability becomes her salvation - and her curse. Appointed the Duc's personal poison-taster, she is confined to her tasting room and forced to live in the chateau's shadows. With each dish, she enters a world of glittering porcelain and gilded secrets, where danger simmers beneath every course... But when she loses her miraculous gift and suspicion coils through the corridors, Minha must confront a terrifying truth: without her gift, who is she - and what remains of the life she's fought so hard to build? Feast is a sumptuous historical novel brimming with intrigue and sensory wonder - a dark fairytale for readers who love Jessie Burton, Elizabeth Macneal and Bridget Collins. " A beautiful book, vivid and delicious and alive... I loved it. " ( Alex Hay, author of The Housekeepers ) " Feast is a tasty read, a fantastic novel filled with glorious detail and deliciously vivid story-telling... I highly recommend it." ( Salena Godden, author of Mrs Death Misses Death ) " A novel to savour, bursting with rich delights." ( Laura Wilkinson, author of Redemption Song ) " Sensuous and richly imagined. " ( Beth Miller, author of The Missing Letters of Mrs Bright ) " Where Perfume traced the pursuit of power, Feast examines a life of resistance. " ( Mark A. Radcliffe, author of Three Gifts ) " Kurtz is the real deal - an absolute original. " ( Mick Jackson, author of The Underground Man ) " A novel that truly captures the senses... Perfect for readers who love atmospheric historical fiction." ( Louise Hare, author of This Lovely City ) " A lush and sensory novel... This is a story that lingers. " ( Emma Pei Yin, author of When Sleeping Women Wake ) " Feast held me in its thrall from the first page and never let go... an immersive, enthralling, extraordinary piece of historical fiction. " ( Rachel Blackmore, author of Costanza )