The Hundred-Foot Journey

A Novel

By: Richard C. Morais

Narrated by: Neil Shah

Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

“That skinny Indian teenager has that mysterious something that comes along once a generation. He is one of those rare chefs who is simply born. He is an artist.”

And so begins the rise of Hassan Haji, the unlikely gourmand who recounts his life’s journey in this charming audiobook. Lively and brimming with the colors, flavors, and scents of the kitchen, The Hundred-Foot Journey is a succulent treat about family, nationality, and the mysteries of good taste.

Born above his grandfather’s modest restaurant in Mumbai, Hassan first experienced life through intoxicating whiffs of spicy fish curry, trips to the local markets, and gourmet outings with his mother. But when tragedy pushes the family out of India, they console themselves by eating their way around the world, eventually settling in Lumière, a small village in the French Alps.

The boisterous Haji family takes Lumière by storm. They open an inexpensive Indian café opposite an esteemed French restaurant - that of the famous chef Madame Mallory - and infuse the sleepy town with the spices of India, transforming the lives of its eccentric villagers and infuriating their celebrated neighbor. Only after Madame Mallory wages culinary war with the immigrant family does she finally agree to mentor young Hassan, leading him to Paris, the launch of his own restaurant, and a slew of new adventures.

The Hundred-Foot Journey is about how the hundred-foot distance between a new Indian kitchen and a traditional French one can represent the gulf between different cultures and desires. A testament to the inevitability of destiny, this is a fable for the ages - charming, endearing, and a joy to listen to.

Richard C. Morais, author of The Hundred-Foot Journey, is a contributing editor at Barron’s in New York. An American raised in Switzerland, he was stationed in London for seventeen years, where he was Forbes’ European bureau chief.

©2008 2010 by Richard C. Morais (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Outstanding! A completely engaging human story heavily larded with the lushest, most high-test food porn since Zola. Easily the best novel ever set in the world of cooking—and absolutely thrilling from beginning to end. I wished it went on for another three hundred pages.”—Anthony Bourdain, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchen Confidential

“A gorgeous novel, vivid and intimate, tracing a journey from kitchen to kitchen, from culture to culture, with a perfect touch.”—Susan Orlean, New York Times bestselling author

“Richard C. Morais conjures a richly woven tapestry of exotic sights, smells, and tastes that transports the reader to a world of epicurean delights. This is a charming, deeply felt novel that questions, and ultimately celebrates, the twists and turns of an authentically lived life.”—Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author

Wasted Potential

I really wanted to like this book and it seemed to have all the indications (food, India, France, working class kid makes good) of things that I like. To me, however, there were two large flaws:

1. The story tried to do too many things and ended up doing none of them particularly well. The best part was about the first third, i.e., the story of how the family left India and settled in France via London. The dramatic arc was really the feud with Madame Mallory and it should have ended with its resolution. A more detailed and nuanced version of just that story would have been much better. Instead, the remainder of the story, focusing on Hassan's career was not particularly interesting, nor did it ring true/authentic for me.

2. Mr. Shah's voicing of the French characters, particularly the women, was so distracting I nearly put the book down many times. It was really a stubborn need to see where the story was going to go. His accent varied, but overall was poorly done across the board and the female characters came off as lisping, mincing, shrill and just.... totally unappealing. Given the large portion of the book set in France and including French characters, a different reader (or having two readers) would have been preferable. In contrast, I listened to Devil in the White City right after this. The reader, Scott Brick, had a handful of French words to say, which he delivered perfectly.

A quick and light story narrated well.

A good story and well read by Neil Sharma. It is a make feel good book.

Entertaining!

It was a delightful book! I enjoyed listening! The story was interesting and the narrator made the listen entertaining!

A bit anticlimactic

This book started off strong and then it seems to wander. For me, it was one of those stories that leaves you wondering if the author just couldn't decide where to go with the story and decided on nowhere.

This is a first...

For the first time ever, I can honestly say that the movie was a real improvement on the book.

Usually, books are much richer and detailed, and are far preferable. Films are by nature of their time constraints usually greatly inferior to the print stories from which the spring.

Just the opposite is true in this case. Although this book was interesting, and detailed in ways the movie could not be, ultimately, I found the film vastly more compelling and memorable.

Warm and wonderful story-glad they made a movie

What does Neil Shah bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His accent made me feel as if I was right amidst the story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

They made a film of it.

Took a steep nosedive.

What did you love best about The Hundred-Foot Journey?

I loved the humor when it was there.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

totally let down.

Any additional comments?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book until he went to Paris and then it was no longer enjoyable. I had hoped for more.

Why Did the Murgha Cross the Road?

I was thoroughly enjoying this book until, halfway through, the narrator, Hassan, makes the title journey, crossing the road from his family's Indian restaurant to apprentice in Madame Mallory's classic French restaurant. To that point, the focus is, quite entertainingly, on his family, their journey from Mumbai to London to rural France, and the food businesses they create along the way. The battles they fight to protect their restaurants, first in India and then in France, come to life-changing climaxes.

Then Hassan makes the hundred foot journey across the street to Mallory's place. The focus shifts to French cuisine, and nothing much happens over the last three and a half hours. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm guessing those last few hours are condensed into a five- or ten-minute prologue and/or epilogue, serving perhaps as a framing device for the interesting portions that make up the first half of the book.

There are other narrative problems as well. The timeline is inconsistent, off. The climactic events of the first half are hardly mentioned again, at least not to the level of significance they should hold. And the many, many descriptions of food and how it's prepared rarely act as metaphors for the characters or the transformations they (should) be going through. It's as if the story supports the author's desire to show off his knowledge of food preparation and recipes rather than the other way around, which is what you'd expect in a literary novel.

The narration is great (except for Madame Mallory's voice). There are several genres that I find especially appealing in audio format, and I am adding novels about India, after listening to this as well as Q&A (aka Slumdog Millionaire) and A Son of the Circus. Neil Shah, who I believe speaks naturally in an American accent, uses an accent that is part Indian and part English, both on the mild side, to read this book, and I found it quite smooth. But it's not the accent that makes it work, it's the narrative style that these books share.

Maybe I loved the first half of the book because of all the Indian food. When people ask me my favorite food, I say Indian. My last meal request will be Murgha Tikka Masala (murgha is chicken) and as many loaves of naan as I can eat. I've had fantastic Indian food in a number of places where there are strong Indian communities -- India, of course, and 6th Street in the East Village, where I lived for 15 years (Mitiali was my usual haunt), and the U.K. and Fiji and Singapore. Maybe I didn't like the second half of the book because I don't care for offal as much as the French do in their haute cuisine.

Either way, the answer to the question -- Why did the murgha cross the road? -- is: to become a turkey.

Loved it, much better than the movie

What did you love best about The Hundred-Foot Journey?

The author's words and the narrator's way of performing those words. This was a visual journey that made a long car ride enjoyable. I'd highly recommend.

What does Neil Shah bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Of course, his accent made the words jump off the page. You could easily believe he was the character in the story

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When the mother was killed in a riot/fire.

Where's the love

I thought he was going to be with his childhood lover. Instead he just gets her a job.