Hungry Heart, How the Food we love shapes our lives by Clare Finney by Clare Finney- book review and blog tour.

I’m pleased to be part of the Random Things Book for Hungry Heart by Clare Finney- non fiction.

Award-winning food writer Clare Finney presents a moving, heartfelt exploration of the intertwining influences of food and love
From family feasts to comfort foods, first dates to office cake; how does what we eat define us, and the relationships we have with others?
Award-winning food writer Clare Finney delves into these questions with a rare and insightful sensitivity, telling a powerful story of life and love whilst uncovering the manifold ways in which food touches all relationships: from perfect strangers to partners, parents and friends.
Beginning with a childhood spent in her grandmother’s hotel kitchen and ending at her grandfather’s bedside, she charts a course through the meals and recipes which have shaped the person she is today.
Finney also investigates the role food plays in a modern society which can often feel isolating, exploring how eating unites us in varied ways throughout our lives. From the dance of culinary courtship entailed in dating to the funeral foods that remind us of the connections between life and death, Finney examines the power of food and drink to attract, bind and define us – and of course, its power to divide and repel.

Review.

I enjoyed Hungry Heart by Clare Finney, a non-fiction book on how the food we love can shape our lives.

I received a copy of this book for a free and unbiased opinion.

This book was a lovely read and one that resonated with me. It made me think of how food has shaped my life – from the rituals of my past to the ones I’ve created for my future.

The emotions and feeling the author describes in the book are interesting, humorous, heartwarming and sometimes brutally honest. She describes how eating and not eating has shaped her life- from the breakfasts shared with her family as a child to her new boyfriend’s mother’s chicken rice. But also, how her life has influenced the food she eats.

She explores how food can bring people together in times of joy and sorrow, the importance of recognising that food isn’t just fuel for the body but also for creating and maintaining social bonds. The author doesn’t shy from the impact from her disordered eating as a teenager as well as the impact of having dietary restrictions can have on trying to have a normal social life (especially since so many social rituals are based on eating),

The writing is easy to read, and the book was a joy to read- I finished this in one go on a hot Saturday afternoon. Each chapter ends on a short, simple but treasured recipe from the author’s family and friends- which I intend to try.

The book talks about some foods being part of the millennial childhood but as a GenXer, I can safely say that these foods formed an important part of mine- Angel Delight, Fish Fingers etc.

Perfect for Fans of

Anyone who loves food!

About the author

Clare Finney is an award-winning food writer – Fortnum and Mason Food Writer of the Year 2019 – and author of The Female Chef, which won Fortnum and Mason’s Debut Food Book Award in 2022. Born in London in 1988 and unhappily educated at an all-girls school, she spent large stretches of the school holidays in her grandparents’ large hotel kitchen on the south coast. There, food and love were inextricable; yet it wasn’t until after university that she fell in love with food writing itself, whilst working for Borough Market’s magazine. Today her food journalism appears regularly in the Guardian, the Evening Standard, delicious magazine, Vogue, the Telegraph and the iPaper, amongst many other titles. She writes about sustainability, food and relationships, producers, food and feminism, trends in food culture, and cheese.

IG: @finneyclare