Bitter & Sweet

De: Amal Awad

Narrado por: Nisrine Amine

Sometimes you have to lose everything to find yourself...

The lake in the middle of her father’s kitchen is only the first in a series of disasters in Zeina’s life. Nassar’s recent health crisis has seen his well-established community restaurant, Casablanca, losing ground and customers to trendier competition.

Casablanca’s deterioration is not the only chaos in Zeina’s world but, unlike her husband who won’t speak to her, her best friend who is sliding towards self-destruction, and her cousin who is stealing Zeina’s life story for content, the restaurant is something she can fix. And Zeina, lonely and adrift, needs something she can fix.

Taking leave from her prestigious chef position, Zeina throws herself into caring for her ailing father, immersing herself in the familiar foods and flavours of her childhood, trying to save both him and his restaurant. But working in the kitchen – and her childhood home – brings memories, secrets and unexpected ambitions simmering to the surface. When it comes time to make hard decisions, Zeina will have to accept that growing up is an ongoing process – one that never gets any easier.

2024, Australian Book Design Awards, Long-listed

©2023 Amal Awad. First published by Pantera Press (P)2023 Bolinda Publishing

Reseñas de la Crítica

'What a novel is Bitter & Sweet, so bright and alive. With a great warm rush of affection for her characters, Amal Awad offers us a story about place (and displacement), love in all its forms, family...and food!' (Nigel Featherstone, author of My Heart Is a Little Wild Thing)

'A feast of a novel... I felt as if I was sharing a sumptuous banquet with Zeina and her warm, flawed, passionate world. I loved it.’ (Melina Marchetta, bestselling author of Looking for Alibrandi)

Beautifully Written

Such an interesting and inspirational look into life, navigating a divorce and moving on after, taking career leaps, and dealing with loss of a loved one. All with the plus of cultural aspects and food I enjoyed learning about.