Food is love and love is food. The two things intertwine more than we would like to confess since one fuels the other.

Lily Prior`s first novel is focusing on italian cuisine and sex which come together perfectly as the 40yrs old librarian is swept off her feet by a stranger who comes in to the library to investigate italian cuisine. They fall in love and have a passionate relationship that is abruptly ended by his disappearance. She witnesses a murder of the chief librarian and then runs out of Palermo and back into her own country-side town where she finds comfort in the arms of her family, revealing the secret of her true father.

Although a bit quirky, the La Cucina (kitchen in italian) is still way better than the previously reviewed “Shanghai baby“. It has a colorful and juicy language, the story is packed with erotica and witty passages and it is an amusing read. It made me remember of “Pierrot Mon Ami“, a similary amusing story. Good summer read.