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From Pasta to Pigfoot
(From Pasta to Pigfoot #1)
by
A contemporary, multi-cultural novel that tells the story of Faye Bonsu, a pasta-loving, underachieving PA whose upbringing in leafy Hampstead, London has given her little opportunity to understand her African heritage. Her less than successful attempts to be seen as more than a cultural lightweight take Faye on a journey back to her native Ghana, where she finds love, cul
...more
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Paperback, 526 pages
Published
May 21st 2015
by Jacaranda Books Art Music Ltd
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Start your review of From Pasta to Pigfoot
My rating for this novel is actually 3,5 stars. I enjoyed reading about Faye's discovery and understanding of herself throughout this novel. The novel begins in the UK specifically London and and the second half is set in Ghana. This is a wonderful novel that takes us through the culture of Ghana. Filled with excellent secondary characters who are mostly lovable and a few horrid ones, they all help bring life and interest to this coming of age novel. If you're looking for something light and eas
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I liked the premise of this one and learned a lot about life in Ghana, but the story moved much too slow, and the main character was written to be too much of a dimwit who couldn't stand up for herself, especially when it came to her interactions with men. I'm not a fan of books with female characters who act like this, especially if the woman's timidness is what pushes the plot forward.
People who want to become familiar with Ghana and/or want to delve into a light international romance or a co ...more
People who want to become familiar with Ghana and/or want to delve into a light international romance or a co ...more
I'd give it a 3.5 if I could. Really entertaining and descriptive.
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Faye has a job she's not that interested in, a relationship with a man that continually makes her feel bad about herself and her identity, and no real sense of what is important to her. When a horrible night out pushes her to end her relationship and to take her dad up on his offer to send her to Ghana for 3 weeks to connect with family that she hasn't seen since she was 5. She is excited about the opportunity to understand and connect more with her heritage .. . and to just get away from the ro
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I'm one of those people who not only judges a book by its look by also by its title. Surface to say I only took this book out from library as I had met the author many times.
Decided to make a start of it finally at 12am last night and from the first chapter I was absolutely delighted by it and stayed up reading till 3am.
Great easy fun read that features good looking Ghanian men...me thinks Ghana needs to be higher on my consideration of planned Africa trips.
Anyways if you looking for a fun and ...more
Decided to make a start of it finally at 12am last night and from the first chapter I was absolutely delighted by it and stayed up reading till 3am.
Great easy fun read that features good looking Ghanian men...me thinks Ghana needs to be higher on my consideration of planned Africa trips.
Anyways if you looking for a fun and ...more
This is a novel about identity, culture and love among other themes. Unlike the title suggest, it is not a cookbook but there is a lot of reference to food in it because the protagonist is a foodie.
The story is set in both London and Ghana. We follow Faye’s story after she left Ghana at the age of five to live in London with her father and her brother following her mum’s death. She was immersed in British culture without visiting or being taught about her Ghanaian culture.
We learn about her fri ...more
The story is set in both London and Ghana. We follow Faye’s story after she left Ghana at the age of five to live in London with her father and her brother following her mum’s death. She was immersed in British culture without visiting or being taught about her Ghanaian culture.
We learn about her fri ...more
The title of this book contains two food items. The novel is more than just food dishes. It centers around a young woman, Faye who is in search of her cultural identity. She has been raised in London but was born in Ghana. She lacks the connection to her Ghanaian roots. Over the course of the novel, she connects with her heritage and has a little romance along the way.
The author cleverly ends the book with enough intrigue to entice readers to read the second book.
The author cleverly ends the book with enough intrigue to entice readers to read the second book.
My Ghana women are strong and I felt this girl was feeble. I found myself asking throughout who cares? There was far too much description, a very long winded story, but overall it was ok as a side book.
Full review to follow.
//3.5//
Read about 100 pages of this and then ignored it for a month and then read the rest in a day. So much fun as a novel and contains great main characters. Really shows of aspects of Ghanian culture like food, marriage, funerals, business ownership, markets, westernisation vs tradition and explores thems of self discovery, identity, family and love. At times the themes it touched on felt very on the nose, despite including greatly important topics such as slavery and westernization and cultu ...more
Read about 100 pages of this and then ignored it for a month and then read the rest in a day. So much fun as a novel and contains great main characters. Really shows of aspects of Ghanian culture like food, marriage, funerals, business ownership, markets, westernisation vs tradition and explores thems of self discovery, identity, family and love. At times the themes it touched on felt very on the nose, despite including greatly important topics such as slavery and westernization and cultu ...more
Slow, easy read
This is slow paced and pairs great with a good Pinot Grigio. This was a 3.5 read for me. I liked Faye and connected with her well enough and many of the ancillary characters. Michael, by design was meant
to be hated and provide the catalyst for Faye to discover her roots. However, I don’t think Rocky was much better. He was aloof and wishy washy and I would tell my daughter to leave him be. He didn’t inspire any sort of romantic inclination, to me.
I bring that up because this is ...more
This is slow paced and pairs great with a good Pinot Grigio. This was a 3.5 read for me. I liked Faye and connected with her well enough and many of the ancillary characters. Michael, by design was meant
to be hated and provide the catalyst for Faye to discover her roots. However, I don’t think Rocky was much better. He was aloof and wishy washy and I would tell my daughter to leave him be. He didn’t inspire any sort of romantic inclination, to me.
I bring that up because this is ...more
Growing up between cultures, because the country you live in is different to your ancestral roots, can be a challenging journey of self-discovery. That’s why for me, reading ‘From Pasta to Pigfoot’ by Frances Mensah Williams, was a complete revelation.
Here was a novelist who skilfully articulates these insecurities about identity and deftly weaves them into an engaging story about cultural awakening. If only this book had been around when I was growing up!
I loved the book so much, I looked for t ...more
Here was a novelist who skilfully articulates these insecurities about identity and deftly weaves them into an engaging story about cultural awakening. If only this book had been around when I was growing up!
I loved the book so much, I looked for t ...more
A very light and predictable read. While I enjoyed Faye's arc of self-confidence and her search to connect with her identity, the scenes and characters seemed too forced. To me, the jokes were unnatural and the change in POV in some chapters was often disjointed. I did however, enjoy the light-heartedness of the characters which reflected the Ghanaian mindset and the care that was taken to explain the culture to Faye and the reader. It was often predictable, but that's not always a bad thing. A
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I found the lead character so annoying - maybe because I cannot relate to the obsession with having babies and getting married. And how on earth did she get to keep has job as she seemed to spend great lengths of time making personal calls whilst at work. There was a lot of hand gesticulation whilst reading this which may have looked a bit odd on the bus
This book is really a 3.5
I’m not a fan of romance novels, but I really enjoyed this book. This story of a young woman figuring out who she is by connecting with her Ghanian history was fun and refreshing. I have already ordered the sequel.
I’m not a fan of romance novels, but I really enjoyed this book. This story of a young woman figuring out who she is by connecting with her Ghanian history was fun and refreshing. I have already ordered the sequel.
3.5 stars***
I really liked this book. It was a nice light read. It was very enjoyable and entertaining.
From Pasta to Pigfoot by Frances Mensah Williams
4 stars
Not a recipe book, but a sympathetic story of a girl finding her Roots.
On first sight this book didn't appeal to me; I wrongly categorised it as 'chick lit' and for that I sincerely apologise to the author. It has elements of that genre, romance, relationships, shopping, girls' nights, but these form the background against which the true story is painted.
Faye Bonsu left her native Ghana as a small child when her father moved the family to L ...more
4 stars
Not a recipe book, but a sympathetic story of a girl finding her Roots.
On first sight this book didn't appeal to me; I wrongly categorised it as 'chick lit' and for that I sincerely apologise to the author. It has elements of that genre, romance, relationships, shopping, girls' nights, but these form the background against which the true story is painted.
Faye Bonsu left her native Ghana as a small child when her father moved the family to L ...more
I loved this book, it just gives you such insight into African culture and traditions. It's a coming of age story of Faye, who has grown up in London and goes back to her roots in Ghana where she finds herself. I too could relate to the story, having grown up and living in a different country and culture.
It's a light read and the characters are drawn well. Faye is very likeable and not very confident at the start of the book and I was rooting for her to do well. There is also a sequel but the r ...more
It's a light read and the characters are drawn well. Faye is very likeable and not very confident at the start of the book and I was rooting for her to do well. There is also a sequel but the r ...more
Brilliant
This was such a good book I have to read again. I am so glad there is a sequel. I
This was such a good book I have to read again. I am so glad there is a sequel. I
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