John Saturnall's Feast

Sep 01, 2012 Gaeta1 rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: readers keen to learn the intricacies of spit-turning

Recommended to Gaeta1 by: I've only myself and the rainbow challenge to blame

Shelves: rainbow-book-challenge, read-2012, historical-fiction, ending-goes-south, fallng-n-love-wth-research, food-glorious-food, foolishly-suckd-n-by-glowing-review, getting-into-mind-of-other-sex-not, head-hopping-headache, i-am-starting-to-lose-patience, picked-up-because-of-cover-title, rainbow, serious-pacing-issues, soak-up-the-atmosphere, improbable-in-any-known-universe, disney-villain

Norfolk's novel is beautifully presented as a physical object, with a striking cover and lovely woodblock prints. The depiction of the 17th century kitchen is fascinating, too. There's many sensual details, whether it's the slick feel of the greasy troughs that the scullery boys must scrape out as they clean the plates, or the spit and hiss of the juice dripping from a pig as it is slowly turned over the fire. The reader really gets a feel of the military precision in which a kitchen of that era...more

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Oct 18, 2012 Kirsty rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: received-for-review, bookgeeks-and-nudge, read-2012, read-for-review, reading-the-world, broadening-your-horizons

My Bookgeeks review of John Saturnall's Feast can be found here:
http://www.nudgemenow.com/article/joh...

Short review: I originally gave this a three star rating because I so enjoyed the first section, but when comparing it to my other three star reads of 2012, this is just nowhere near as good as any of them. The novel started off so well and I found myself pulled right into John's story. The pace was excellent, as was the writing style - not too descriptive and relatively simplistic at times, b...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book had all of the elements that I love in historical fiction, the most important being that as I read the story I felt like I was there in the 17th century kitchen beside John watching him and all of the other workers prepare the food. I love it when I become so engrossed in a story that I feel I am right there with the characters and Norfolk does a wonderful job of bringing this story to life.

Each chapter begins with a recipe written by John that he prepared for the feasts. They were fun...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Virginia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, historical-fiction

The merits of the book first. It really is quite evocative in its descriptions of a cornucopian, heavily populated seventeenth-century kitchen. A lot of research has gone into this, but you don't get the 'dead hand of research effect' so common in historical novels: the details of food preparation, ingredients, recipes, arcane kitchen roles and duties are brought together in a convincing and imaginatively compelling brew (it's impossible to avoid culinary metaphors talking about this book). I fe...more The merits of the book first. It really is quite evocative in its descriptions of a cornucopian, heavily populated seventeenth-century kitchen. A lot of research has gone into this, but you don't get the 'dead hand of research effect' so common in historical novels: the details of food preparation, ingredients, recipes, arcane kitchen roles and duties are brought together in a convincing and imaginatively compelling brew (it's impossible to avoid culinary metaphors talking about this book). I felt that this was probably the heart of the author's vision for the book, and he brings it off superbly.

The problem for me was that this frankly isn't enough to make a novel, or not a novel of this conventional kind, anyway. A plot is needed. Norfolk does supply us with one, of a fairly conventional ilk (protagonist emerges from hideous childhood bearing the odd scar; love triumphs across class barriers; the undeserving get their dues; the deserving live happily ever after) but it's all fairly formulaic and not especially engaging. I never at any point reading this novel felt a strong desire to find out what happened next, which has to be a bad sign.

The characterisation is especially weak. There are a lot of characters, but quite large numbers of them, especially in the Fremantle household in which the bulk of the novel is set, never really establish themselves as anything more than names. Of the more worked-up characters, none struck me as especially memorable. Lucretia is particularly underdeveloped, in a way that is problematic for the whole romantic element. She seems to me entirely a cipher, doing exactly what is needed for the plot at any given moment, but without any coherent character that I could discern. Some elements of her story are simply laughable, such as the supposed climactic moment near the end where she deliberately masquerades as a whorish seductress in order to put Saturnall off her and hence spare his feelings (at least, I think that's supposed to be what happens ... I must say I had rather given up on the novel by that point).

The villains are also a weak point: Clough, Marpot, Piers Callock. I didn't think anyone did completely unregenerate 'baddies', without a hint of redemptive complexity any more - or at least not three of them in a single novel. Frankly, they are clichés. Marpot is even given the arch-villainous characteristic of 'cold blue eyes' at one point, just in case we were in any doubt of his general iniquity.

I found it interesting that Nofolk's end note spoke of the book having had a 'long and strange' route to publication, and wonder whether the very mixed quality of the resulting work has anything to do with that. It IS genuinely mixed - there are some very good things amid the less good, as I said. To be honest, though, I wouldn't say the language or the evocation of seventeenth century life were any stronger at their best than what is found in Maria McCann's 'As Meat Loves Salt', for example, and I found that a far superior novel to this in terms of character and plot. The Civil War background is also better exploited in McCann. It seemed rather perfunctory here.(less)

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Jan 27, 2013 Monica rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: british

“Norfolk, the author of ornate period novels, here uses his talent for detail to evoke the life of a cook at a seventeenth-century British manor. . . . Norfolk creates a Manichaean struggle between Christian and pagan traditions, but this is ultimately less rewarding than the completeness of the physical world he describes.”—The New Yorker

“Lawrence Norfolk, historical novelist extraordinaire, inhabits the 17th century through its food. From the reign of Charles I through civil war, Cromwell's pr...more “Norfolk, the author of ornate period novels, here uses his talent for detail to evoke the life of a cook at a seventeenth-century British manor. . . . Norfolk creates a Manichaean struggle between Christian and pagan traditions, but this is ultimately less rewarding than the completeness of the physical world he describes.”—The New Yorker

“Lawrence Norfolk, historical novelist extraordinaire, inhabits the 17th century through its food. From the reign of Charles I through civil war, Cromwell's protectorate and on to the restoration, we are treated to both lavish feasting and battlefield foraging, the politics of the high table and the hearthside use of medicinal herbs. . . . Norfolk's ability to fold history in on itself, and to summon deep time, is as dazzling here as it was in his earlier novels: family genealogy becomes a myth of origins. . . . The material is fascinating. . . . Norfolk's imagination is bigger and more abstract than the individual; he conjures so well the bustling bureaucracy of the 17th-century manor house, its systems of rights and obligations, its geographical and social significance. . . . The food writing is sensuous and exact. . . . You put the book down wanting to make it all.”—The Guardian

There's a mythic quality to Lawrence Norfolk's fourth historical novel. . . . it skillfully entangles folklore and foodlore. . . . Throughout the novel, food is shown to be both a source of sustenance and a thing of ritual; recipes are legacies, the threads connecting generations. . . . Norfolk's writing is at its strongest when he's describing the symbolic significance of certain dishes: spiced wine, delicate curls of spun sugar, slivers of almonds, and the flaking flesh of river fish.”—The Observer (UK)

“Norfolk knows how to make words roll around the mouth. . . . Fantastical architecture and weird botany are a vivid background to the bloody conflict and swooning romance. Norfolk is an expert on obscure sources as well as sauces. His blend of horrid history and oddly credible fantasy deserves to be consumed by the masses.”—Sunday Telegraph

I could not have said any of this better myself.

Norfolk's books so brilliantly realize strange times in other places - there is nothing else quite like them. This one is approachable, gripping (only if you like food, conflict and love stories) and a really beautifully made book on so many levels.(less)

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Jan 20, 2013 Jen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, english

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 12, 2012 Cleo rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-copy

How Saturnus created the first Garden and when, this humble Cook does not pretend to know. Nor the Name writ over its Gates, be it Paradise or Eden. But every green Thing grew in that ancient Plantation. Palm Trees gave Dates and Honey flowed from the Hives. Grapes swelled on the Vine and every Creature thrived.

Rest assured, the whole book isn't written like this. It's the story of John Saturnall, who lives in the remote village of Buckland. His mother, a local healer, is branded a witch, forcin...more How Saturnus created the first Garden and when, this humble Cook does not pretend to know. Nor the Name writ over its Gates, be it Paradise or Eden. But every green Thing grew in that ancient Plantation. Palm Trees gave Dates and Honey flowed from the Hives. Grapes swelled on the Vine and every Creature thrived.

Rest assured, the whole book isn't written like this. It's the story of John Saturnall, who lives in the remote village of Buckland. His mother, a local healer, is branded a witch, forcing them to run for their lives and hide out in the woods. John's mother teaches him to forage meager sustenance from the wood. She also shows him the Book, and tells him of an Feast. But it gets colder and colder and John's mother dies. John is brought to Buckland Manor, and put to work in the kitchens. Under the guidance of the Master Cook, John rises from the Scullery to the great house above. When the King of England visits the Manor, it is John who cooks for him. Sir William, lord of the manor, wants to marry his daughter off to a horrible man. Lucretia vows to fast until the engagement is called off. John is supposed to create a dish to tempt the girl to eat, and they become attracted to one another. But Civil War looms as well.

This was an okay book, though the first hundred pages or so were very confusing. It took me a while to get into the actual story, but once I did, I kind of enjoyed it. I was kind of confused about the whole Feast thing. Are the dishes real? This isn't a fantasy, so I'm guessing not. I guess the dishes are more like "food for thought", providing John and his mother with mental sustenance. I liked Lawrence Norfolk's writing style, and the middle sections of the book were much better. The later parts were not that compelling though. I guess I just couldn't connect with the characters. I didn't really like John or Lucretia at all at the end. They seemed kind of selfish to me. However, I'm glad that I tried this one, which I got from Grove Press. Maybe some of Norfolk's other fiction is better. And it was interesting to see what life was like in this period.

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Dec 11, 2012 Sheryl Kirby rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Feast really didn't satiate.

Based on the title and lead character's name, I was actually expecting references to Saturnalia (the Roman holiday on December 17th from which we derive most Christmas celebrations). Was the story of The Feast John is brought up on based on the Saturnalia banquet? We never really find out as the mythological story of ColdCloak and Bellica and the feast to feed all the people is only vaguely explained, and then in a rushed manner at the end of the story, like the a...more The Feast really didn't satiate.

Based on the title and lead character's name, I was actually expecting references to Saturnalia (the Roman holiday on December 17th from which we derive most Christmas celebrations). Was the story of The Feast John is brought up on based on the Saturnalia banquet? We never really find out as the mythological story of ColdCloak and Bellica and the feast to feed all the people is only vaguely explained, and then in a rushed manner at the end of the story, like the author was hurrying to tie everything up.

As a food writer, I adored the scenes set in the giant Reformation era kitchens of a great estate, even the ones set during the years when food was sparse. The descriptions of the cooks, ingredients, techniques and finished dishes are gorgeously written. Likewise the plotline where John Saturnall learns to read, forage, taste, smell and cook via his mother's book of recipes as they wander the woods in search of herbs and food. But the rest of the plot felt very much as if it had been written with the intention of a quick conversion to a mini-series screenplay. The heroes and villains, the settings, and even the quick cuts from one scene to another, all made me feel as if Norfolk was looking to turn John Saturnall's Feast into a movie of the week.

None of the characters were strong enough to support the weird pace of the story, and the romance in the face of religious despotism and civil war wasn't interesting enough to distract me from the details of the storyline that seem to have been forgotten. Such as, John's father - we're lead to believe that John is sent to Buckland to learn who his father is and that there is some great secret or knowledge he will gain. But even those who knew his father do not have much to tell.

Also - Norfolk portrays John early on as a boy wonder who can discern myriad spices in a dish, but this trait (and the fantastic descriptions) is ignored in the latter half of the book as we focus on the war and the romance.

I wanted more of John trying to find out his own story - both that of his parents and the story of the Feast and his place within it. Instead, it becomes a very faint, almost forgotten sub-plot that is not taken advantage of. When Master Cook Scovell shows John the bottles left behind by his mother, and indicates the door to the room where she worked, I expected the character to at least ask to see the room, perhaps make it some kind of private sanctuary, where he could begin to rewrite the book his mother burned. (Because, seriously, I can't have been the only one who was rooting for John to start rewriting that book, can I?)

Until I read the other reviews here I blamed myself for the weird pace, assuming that I had read the work too quickly or skimmed portions instead of taking my time and absorbing every paragraph, but others seem to have had the same experience. I may re-read this again in the future to see if I enjoy it more on a second reading. Or maybe I'll just wait for the BBC mini-series, which I'm sure is in the works.(less)

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Oct 24, 2012 Jacqie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: didnt-finish

I actually like quite a bit of the writing in this book, but I don't think it's fair to assign more than 3 stars to a book I didn't finish. 3 stars is becoming my rating for "it's not a bad book, maybe even kinda good, but it just didn't do it for me". Sad that apparently even an average rated book does not inspire me to finish it.

I loved the setting of this book. We're in Civil War Era(theirs, not ours) England, and after we get to the manor kitchen I really enjoyed immersing myself in time and...more I actually like quite a bit of the writing in this book, but I don't think it's fair to assign more than 3 stars to a book I didn't finish. 3 stars is becoming my rating for "it's not a bad book, maybe even kinda good, but it just didn't do it for me". Sad that apparently even an average rated book does not inspire me to finish it.

I loved the setting of this book. We're in Civil War Era(theirs, not ours) England, and after we get to the manor kitchen I really enjoyed immersing myself in time and place. The incredibly complicated political and social system of an ancient manor, the labor intensive cooking, I really enjoyed it.

However, there was a story in the setting, and the story did not hold my attention. I never really attached to John Saturnall, despite his sad tale. And I really never attached to the girl who turns out to be his love interest, Lucretia. These two people did things and talked to other people, but I never got involved with them as characters. Their romance, at least as far as I got (page 250 out of 450) wasn't ever convincing to me. They didn't like each other, and I didn't blame them.

Why did I read so far and then stop? Because every time I put the book down, I thought, "I'll just give it another 50 pages. If I like it after another 50 pages, I'll finish it." After I had done this 3 times, I realized that if I didn't know that I liked the book and wanted to finish it by now, I really wasn't that into the book. Other books were calling, but I was putting them off by willpower and trying to continue with this book. It just didn't do it for me, ultimately.

A side note on the cooking: I do a lot of cooking; it's a hobby of mine. I know that styles and techniques of cookery have certainly changed a lot, but some of the technique in the book didn't make any sense to me. It didn't read like someone who actually did a lot of cooking. This could just be ignorance of the details of cooking history on my part- I'm fully willing to admit that. But the little uncertainties I had in my head after reading the details of some scenes also pulled me out of the book.

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Oct 06, 2012 Ellen O'brien rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is not a good book to read if you like to eat a lot. There are recipes from 17th century England may make your mouth water. Even if they don't, the descriptions of the organization of and activities in an English manor kitchen will do you in for sure. This is a historical romance so a lowborn boy grows up to rule the kitchen and the heart of the daughter of the manor. They are faced with huge challenges including the rise of the horribly intolerant Puritans who set out to destroy social cus...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Laurie rated it 5 of 5 stars

‘John Saturnall’s Feast’ is set near the start of the English Civil War. John is the child of a woman who is a sort of outcast; an herbalist and midwife, she lives on the outskirts of the village and doesn’t go to church. Of course this means she is thought of as a witch. When a plague runs through the village, she is blamed and they are run out of town. They take up living in a deserted house in the woods, living on late season fruit and chestnuts. She is dying, of both starvation and disease,...more ‘John Saturnall’s Feast’ is set near the start of the English Civil War. John is the child of a woman who is a sort of outcast; an herbalist and midwife, she lives on the outskirts of the village and doesn’t go to church. Of course this means she is thought of as a witch. When a plague runs through the village, she is blamed and they are run out of town. They take up living in a deserted house in the woods, living on late season fruit and chestnuts. She is dying, of both starvation and disease, but before she dies, she teaches John to read from a book about a strange feast held in Buccla’s Wood. It encompasses every form of food; fish, fowl, vegetables, sweets, mammals are all included, and the feast is for everyone, not just the rich as is the way of the land at the time. At her wish, after her death, he is taken to Buckland Manor where he is put to work in the vast kitchens.

John’s life changes totally. Used to being alone or with only a couple of people, he is now constantly pressed by people on all sides. He works every minute of the long day and falls directly into a sleep that never seems to be long enough. Still, given the time and place, it’s a good situation. Food is abundant here, he’s living inside, and after awhile he gets to learn cooking. He’s in a better place than a lot of people.

This is primarily a love story; a love that crosses classes and is forbidden- preserving estates and titles takes precedence over love. It’s also an adventure story; the kitchen staff marched with the lord of the manor when he went to war supporting King Charles, and they were expected to fight with the soldiers. I liked the characters. They are not likable all the time; they do stupid, human, things sometimes. But, in the end, it’s a story about food.

We might think that cooking back in those days was fairly primitive, but it wasn’t. It was actually very sophisticated. One of the culinary trends back then was to create dishes that looked like something else – parts of animals and birds sewn together to create a mythical beast, meat in pastry to look like a bird, sugar creations in the shape of just about anything. Cooks vied to create the most elaborate and surprising dishes- a sort of Iron Chef, Stuarts edition. Most of the year, the diet was rich and varied; the manor supplied fish from its own ponds, poultry, eggs, dairy products, pork, honey, wheat, fruit and vegetables (they did eat their ‘sallets’) and much was stored for winter. A stable trade system meant the upper classes enjoyed sugar and spices. The sheer amount of person power it took to feed a manor was incredible- most workers were specialists, turning the spits in the kitchen, washing the endless stream of dirty dishes, plucking fowl, managing the fish ponds, the dove cote, the hen houses, the spice room, making the salads, cutting up the meat… and all those people had to be fed, too. You can see how a book can be created around a kitchen of the era! The food, and John’s relationship to it and how he uses it to speak to the lady of the manor, is lovingly detailed, much more so, really, than the people.

Food was not always plentiful, however. It was easy to starve back then. The stark difference between the incredible plenty of the start of the story versus what they have to deal with when the Roundhead soldiers steal the food from the manor and destroy what they cannot take shows how dramatically life can change. John falls back on how he and his mother lived in the woods, and on what he learned from the book of the Feast. He is the hero of the tale, for all the people living on the manor.

What the Feast was is never made clear. It’s like a myth of a Golden Age, when all were equals and food was plentiful. Was it a pagan community that had existed in the woods before Christians arrived? Was it a myth to comfort the reader, a dream to hold onto? Did it have a direct bearing on John’s ancestors? Was the book a semi-magical teaching aid that allowed John to excel in the manor kitchens later? In the end, it doesn’t matter. It allowed John to hold on and to save the manor.

‘John Saturnall’s Feast’ is a story of cycles and renewals, both earthly as the wheel of the year turns and spiritually, as human hope and happiness comes up again and again.
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Sep 10, 2012 Judith Starkston rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

John Saturnall’s Feast is an odd but intriguing book. Richly sensuous language describes elaborate 17th century foods and every imaginable smell. Arcane vocabulary, possibly not used in print since Jacobean times, proliferates in these descriptions. The intricacies of food preparation in a great English castle of the period are on full and detailed display while we follow John’s life story. He spends childhood in an obscure village and later arrives in Sir William’s kitchen where his nose and hi...more John Saturnall’s Feast is an odd but intriguing book. Richly sensuous language describes elaborate 17th century foods and every imaginable smell. Arcane vocabulary, possibly not used in print since Jacobean times, proliferates in these descriptions. The intricacies of food preparation in a great English castle of the period are on full and detailed display while we follow John’s life story. He spends childhood in an obscure village and later arrives in Sir William’s kitchen where his nose and his past win him favor with the slightly sinister Master Cook Scovell. Then the Cromwellian Civil War stirs up enough trouble to blur the social boundaries and bring John and Sir William’s daughter Lucretia into more contact than either of them would have imagined but for the extraordinary circumstances of the war’s deprivations and violence.

At the center of this mildly confusing narrative is John Saturnall, heir to an extraordinary sense of scent. He can identify all the ingredients of a complex sauce or spiced wine just by sniffing it. From where did he inherit this heightened olfactory sense? According to his mother, a mysterious wise-woman accused of being a witch, he and she are some of Saturnus’s people, who created a feast of all the fruits and foods of the earth, a feast eaten by all at a common table as equals. “We keep the feast for all in amity,” his mother tells him shortly before she dies of frost and starvation. John finds this a hard lesson to believe, having been driven out of the village by a crazed and hateful mob—how is he supposed to prepare a feast happily for the likes of such enemies? You may have guessed by now that there is more than a hint of allegory to this novel.

There are rewards to be gained as reader of this book. Norfolk’s website says he thinks “every book is a collaboration with the people that I imagine turning the pages…a dialogue with the reader.” You’ll need to collaborate with Norfolk, to work at interpreting—your part isn’t always easy—but there are gems to be gained and the story of John and Lucretia holds the reader’s interest.
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Sep 08, 2012 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, netgalley, recommended, favorites, buy-for-permanent-shelf

John Saturnall is sent to Buckland Manor as a young orphan, in hopes that he will find work and a place where he can fit in, as it is his best chance for a decent life. John has a natural talent for smells and tastes. He can break the flavors down in their complexity, pulling them apart and identifying their individual parts. His talent reminded me of that of Moses in The Bells, except Moses' talent dealt with the sense of hearing and John's is that of taste and smell.

Given John's talent, he qu...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Kate Mayfield rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lawrence Norfolk's elegantly written JOHN SATURNALL'S FEAST is utterly
captivating. An interest in history or the 17th century is not necessary to
become completely swept away by the story - a testament to Norfolk's magic.
One needs only a desire to read a beautifully constructed story of a boy who
desperately struggles to stay alive in his young life. He is the boy who
emerges from a tragedy in ancient woods only to be thrown into the kitchen
of Buckland Manor where he must earn the right to use his...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Lydia Presley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historic-fiction, 2012

It's interesting, because I've come across a controversial subject two days in a row in reading. John Saturnall's Feast, while being a fabulous story (and one that had me drooling), carries the honor of being a historical novel and as such, will get a little more leeway from me.

So what is that controversial subject? It's rape, folks. It happens in books, I get it. My issue is when it happens and we're supposed to just forget about it and move on, much like the women characters who experience it...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Elvina Barclay rated it 5 of 5 stars

Reading that this book was about food and history I was intrigued have a copy to read. I had not read anything by this author before. I was quickly captivated by the language and descriptions of plants, animals and the life lived by the main characters.
Young John Sandall lives with his mother in the village of Buckland is early 17th century England. He is an outcast as others in the village believe his mother to be a witch, but they still come to her for cures and advise. As young children begi...more

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Aug 24, 2012 David Ketelsen rated it 5 of 5 stars

I received an advanced readers copy of this book through Goodreads.

This is a historical novel that takes place from around 20 years before the English Civil War through to the year 1680. There's a few jumps in time frame with the focus being the childhood and early adulthood of the main characters, John Saturnall and Lucretia Fremantle.

Lawrence Norfolk does a very good job in this book of placing the reader back in the 17th century to understand the lives of people in a small estate, particularl...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Mikko Karvonen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, historical-characters

John Saturnall's Feast is a story about cooking, religion, and love -- in the sense that it features all these elements. For the most part, however, it fails to make the most of what it has.

The story is set in the 17th century England, spanning about two decades before, during and after the civil war. The historical events themselves are mostly coincidental for the story - they are referred to, but not really used. Regardless, the war on religion acts as a perfect backdrop for the main theme (in...more

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Dec 18, 2012 Gwendolyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this historical novel about a seventeenth century chef living on an English estate. The story begins when a young boy and his mother are chased out of their village because the fearful villagers think the mother is a witch. The boy flees to an English estate and begins working as a kitchen boy, and his story continues through times of peace and war, riches and poverty, festive decadence and religious austerity. Norfolk’s loving descriptions of early English food are captivating:...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Carrie Smith rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

John Saturnall’s Feast by Lawrence Norfolk

Available in ebook form Sept. 4, 2012
The challenge in writing a historical novel is that you can’t change the bigger pieces of the history of the time. This given, there is a good chance the reader is aware of the historical plot spoiler. Lawerence Norfolk has worked this well to his advantage bringing in a fantasy line into equal part in the background story of the mid 17th century historical struggle between Oliver Cromwell as and Charles I within the...more

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May 07, 2012 Liviu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012_release_read, mainstream, read_2012, top_25_2012_novels

Since his very notable debut some 20 years ago with Lempriere's Dictionary, Mr. Norfolk has written only one another major novel, Pope's Rhinoceros which was what I expected and more - I read it only twice across the years, but I am rereading it too now starting when I heard a few days ago about his upcoming new novel, this one, John Saturnall's Feast; as for Lempriere, maybe this time (it's at least my 10th try at it) I will manage to get into it...

Anyway, I saw the upcoming John Saturnall's Fe...more Since his very notable debut some 20 years ago with Lempriere's Dictionary, Mr. Norfolk has written only one another major novel, Pope's Rhinoceros which was what I expected and more - I read it only twice across the years, but I am rereading it too now starting when I heard a few days ago about his upcoming new novel, this one, John Saturnall's Feast; as for Lempriere, maybe this time (it's at least my 10th try at it) I will manage to get into it...

Anyway, I saw the upcoming John Saturnall's Feast a few days ago on Net Galley and I obtained a review copy which I expected to take me a while to read (see above why, noting that Pope's Rhinoceros is also a pretty dense and almost 700 pages long though quite a rewarding novel that makes one understand life in Europe ~1520's better than many historical treatises, such is its superb atmosphere and the powerful style of the author).

To my surprise I almost breezed through John Saturnall's Feast as it was very hard to put down, but also it stood at about "only" 400 pages and was written in a much more accessible style - a pretty straight forward and more or less chronological narrative interspersed by fanciful "feast recipes" according to particular events of importance in the book. Actually, the style is almost sensuous in a way, though the grime and harsh realities of England from around 1630's till 1662 (with an epilogue set a decade or so later) are very much in evidence also.

The book is clearly John's story and the blurb is generally accurate, but despite that the main hero is only a "cook" rather than a knight or such, there is adventure, heroism, seduction, battles, fanatics...

The novel is also very visual - I was picturing quite a lot of it as a Peter Greenaway movie, more precisely the mixture of the period of Draughtsman's Contract and the feasting of The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover - both movies I've watched a number of times...
Though now the cook is the lover too and he does not end on the dinner table...

Anyway a highly, highly recommended novel and a top 25 of mine for this year, while i expect I will reread it quite a few times to enjoy its atmosphere...

I also expect this one to appear on this year Booker prize longlist at the least. (less)

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Sep 16, 2012 Sophia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

John Saturnall's Feast was by far the best historical novel I've read this year; a rags to riches tale of romance, derring-do, ancient legend, wicked villains, civil war and, above all, food.

We first meet John Sandall, as he is then known, as a young boy in the small village of Buckland. His mother is known there as a wise woman, but when a half-crazed religious zealot comes to the village and begins amassing new followers, she is accused of being a witch and driven out of the village. She does...more John Saturnall's Feast was by far the best historical novel I've read this year; a rags to riches tale of romance, derring-do, ancient legend, wicked villains, civil war and, above all, food.

We first meet John Sandall, as he is then known, as a young boy in the small village of Buckland. His mother is known there as a wise woman, but when a half-crazed religious zealot comes to the village and begins amassing new followers, she is accused of being a witch and driven out of the village. She doesn't survive the winter, but before she dies she schools her son in the ancient tradition of the feast - a time of plenty for her ancestors before the advent of Christianity.

Now orphaned, John is sent to Buckland Manor, where his mother spent time before he was born. John is set to work as a lowly kitchen boy, and it's here that the story begins in earnest. We follow John as he rises through the ranks of the kitchen and falls in love with the beautiful Lady Lucretia, who is impossibly far above him in class. Lady Lucretia's father, Sir William, is a staunch supporter of the king, and John is to reach the pinnacle of his career when the royal party comes to Buckland Manor and John must cook for them.

The language of the book is perfect, using plenty of old terms to create a sense of the period whilst still being clear to a modern reader. Each chapter begins with an extract from John Saturnall's recipe book, and these are the only sections written in full 17th century style. The descriptions of food are gorgeous, and some of the creations from Buckland Manor's kitchens are quite amazing - it's worth reading the book for these alone. I loved the little details about everyday life in the kitchens and learning about how they would have been run.

The book is oddly timeless in the first half, and it's hard to get a grip on where you are in history. Then, about halfway through, the civil war begins and John must march off to war in defence of the king. There are a few bloodthirsty bits, but nothing too graphic, and they help illustrate the harshness of life in those days. The book has been well researched, and I got a real sense of how life would have changed abruptly after the puritanical roundheads won the war. Suddenly feasting, music and jollity were outlawed as expressions of godlessness, and life at Buckland Manor was very different after the soldiers' return.

The romance element of the novel was as rich and absorbing as the foody bits, with a forbidden attraction between John and Lucretia leading to a love affair that could never be permitted by society. It's perhaps a little bit far-fetched in places, but I really didn't care, and was happy just to sit back and enjoy it.

If you're starting to think about Christmas presents, John Saturnall's Feast would make an excellent one, and would go perfectly with a roaring fire and a jug of mulled wine. I loved it.(less)

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Jul 14, 2012 Brooke rated it 2 of 5 stars

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Jun 08, 2012 Kiki rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an electronic advanced reader copy from NetGalley.

I have never read anything by this author before, but asked for the ARC based on the book's description on NetGalley and I received it. It wasn't until I was more than half way through the book that I decided to look up Lawrence Norfolk and learn a little bit more about this writer, and was impressed with his credentials, although I can hardly claim to have a strong interest in reading his other works, as they sound way above what I woul...more This was an electronic advanced reader copy from NetGalley.

I have never read anything by this author before, but asked for the ARC based on the book's description on NetGalley and I received it. It wasn't until I was more than half way through the book that I decided to look up Lawrence Norfolk and learn a little bit more about this writer, and was impressed with his credentials, although I can hardly claim to have a strong interest in reading his other works, as they sound way above what I would be capable of reading and understanding! I was happy I was reading this on my Kindle, since I did use the built in dictionary quite a lot. Norfolk uses a lot of vocabulary you do not generally hear in today's world, most of it referring to more ancient times. This book is set in the 1600's in England, beginning right before the English Civil War. But another added feature of this novel is the ancient language used before each section to describe the "receipts" used for John Saturnall's Feast, essentially, a cookbook.

John Sandall is a lonely little boy who lives with his mother, Shunned by the villages children as a "witch's son," his mother is an herbalist/healer/midwife who is regarded as a w itch by the Puritanical order that has grown up in England after the Reformation and is trying to take over the worship in small villages. The Puritans in the village are fanatical and frightening, and the preacher, Marpot, is a hateful and controlling man who incites the village to violence against John and his mother, even after they have finally been accepted there. John and his mother are forced to flee, while their home is destroyed. They escape the wilderness nearby, surviving on their wits, and his mother continues to educate John to her ways with a special cookbook of sorts that she has managed to save.

A very basic knowledge of the history of England is helpful when reading this book, and I often found myself looking up names and events to learn more about the period, people and places, but Norfolk purposely leaves much of the information provided in the story very vague, almost as if it really doesn't matter, and truthfully, the main characters are the most important ones to try and understand. John ends up at nearby Buckland Manor, as an orphan, but because of his uncanny culinary skills, he is allowed to stay on as a Kitchen Boy, instead of being sent to the poorhouse. There he meets Lady Lucretia, the motherless child of the manor, who often fasts in a passive rebellion against her father. He also meets a whole host of other interesting and important folks that contribute to life at the manor.

This book has quite a complicated plot, and the reader really needs to pay attention to names of places, to the many characters and to the thoughts of the John and Lucy. The writing is extraordinary and the story is quite moving. I loved the way the author manages to keep things happening without becoming stagnant, or stuck in the many plot details, the book has a very natural flow and feeling, and without that, it would be very easy to become mired down by this novel. The last book I read with a plot this complicated was David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, which I really enjoyed, and the style of writing is similar: many clues and hints are given to the reader from the very start of the novel, and it is usually with hindsight that the reader suddenly recognizes them.

A delightful book, challenging yet fun reading, especially for those who enjoy history and esoteric stories with amazing people, both real and fictional.

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Jan 14, 2013 Gabriella rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I bought a particularly lovely edition of this book in hardcover at my local bookstore (yay for Fullers!) and I was so excited to read it. When I finally did get around to it, I was initially a bit disappointed - I don't know if it was due to my mood, or the instant immersion in the detailed story, but I did find it hard to get into. After a chapter or so, however, I was falling in love with John Saturnall's Feast.

Norfolk's detailed descriptions and rich historical research really makes this be...more

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Aug 13, 2012 Emily Mishler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, historical

I won this book through a Goodreads ARC giveaway.

I really enjoyed Norfolk's book. John Saturnall is a young boy in England during the turbulent times surrounding the English Civil Wars. Norfolk presents the reader with a unique perspective in history, telling the story through characters involved on the outskirts of the major events.

The narration jumps around a bit, telling the same story from John's perspective as well as the viewpoint from a number of other characters. Norfolk has a wonderful...more

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Jan 05, 2013 Benjamin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction

It's not a fantastic book, but I enjoyed it a bit. It follows much of the life of John Saturnall from being cast out of his village with his mother for witchcraft to rising to Master Cook of a noble household. All set to the backdrop of the English Civil War between Charles I and Parliament. The plot and characterization are often simplistic and the author never really follows through on some ideas.

On the other hand I thought Norfolk was quite restrained with certain aspects of the story such a...more

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Sep 18, 2012 Katharine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2012, review

‘John Saturnall’s Feast’ by Lawrence Norfolk is a historical fiction set in 1625 and beyond, following the life of John Sandall. It begins when he’s a child, soon to be on the run as a small, religious town accesses his mother of witchcraft. She dies during the winter, and John is sent to a manor to work in the kitchens.
From there, John becomes one of the greatest cooks of the time, impressing even the King. Then the Civil War throws his life into chaos once more, and he has to learn to survive...more ‘John Saturnall’s Feast’ by Lawrence Norfolk is a historical fiction set in 1625 and beyond, following the life of John Sandall. It begins when he’s a child, soon to be on the run as a small, religious town accesses his mother of witchcraft. She dies during the winter, and John is sent to a manor to work in the kitchens.
From there, John becomes one of the greatest cooks of the time, impressing even the King. Then the Civil War throws his life into chaos once more, and he has to learn to survive the battlefield long enough to return to his beloved kitchens, and the girl who resides above them.
This is a tale of seventeenth-century life, love, war and religion, written so well that it will capture you no matter your usual genre preference. This book is highly recommended.

The first thing that is to be noted about this book is the beautiful way it is presented. The hard cover edition is printed on lovely paper, with sections of the book divided by careful drawings and a recipe that will feature in that chapter. The cover is printed with thick, raised ink that display the foods John learns all about from his mother and then the kitchens afterwards; so detailed that you can spend a surprisingly long time just gazing at the front, then inside covers.

The characters are few and simple – John and those he interacts with in the village, and then the manor, and few others. Though it doesn’t dip greatly into their thoughts and feelings, or the backstory of anyone but John and the girl in the manor, still a great deal is known about them thanks to Norfolk’s elegant writing.

Norfolk has wound fact and fiction well, easily giving a feel for the time whilst still inserting his own fantasy. The changes we see in their world as time passes are intriguing, showing how even the smallest of villages are effected by war at that time.

The plot moves along at an easy and believable pace, showing the general worries and fears one would have had at that time – being picked out by the church, or freezing or starving during the winter.

This book is highly recommended, for anyone who enjoys historical fiction or simply loves an author who has an almost lyrical way with words.
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Sep 30, 2012 Tamara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, books-i-own, 2012, historicalfiction

I got this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

"John Saturnall's Feast" is a lush description of feast and famine in revolutionary England.
John Saturnall is a young boy whose mother was labeled a witch and driven from the village. As they struggle to survive in the forest, she shows him a book of foods and uses it to teach him to read and about a grand "feast". When she dies, the parish priest sends him to the manor house, where he becomes a kitchen boy.
Through the years, thanks to a...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Kati rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. I wasn't quite sure of what to think of it in the beginning, but I quickly fell in love with it. Much to my surprise, I loved the descriptions of the food. I don't think they especially added a lot to the story but they fit in with the story and were interesting. As for the story itself, it was, in my experience, unique! I don't think I've ever read a historical fiction book (or any book for that matter) that creates such a vivid world through food. I enjoyed it immensely. I'...more

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