Book: The Prodigal Daughter by Prue Leith

This is the follow-up to Food of Love, which started during WW2. The family story continues with a deeper look at the next generation. Starting in the swinging sixties, the prodigal daughter, Angelica (the character of the same name in Rug Rats crossed my mind more than once) decides to rebel against her families Italian heritage and is desperate to learn French cooking in France.It’s been 20 years since her father Giovanni started with a fish and chip business and he and his wife Laura are opening a fine dining place to go with their chain of cafes. At this time, there are no female chefs in restaurants, so just for Angelica to even get into a chef school, is extraordinary.In this book we find stereotypical spoilt aristocrats alongside kind-spirited ones, happily living alongside next to middle Englanders married to prisoners of war.The Italian side of the story held my attention again. I come from Bedford, which, when I was growing up had the largest Italian population in the country. The foods they talk of being in short supply in the UK in the 1970s, I knew about; fat rounds of Italian soda bread, gorgonzola and lots of herbs were standard around my house. I only realised they weren’t the norm when I left Bedford in the late 1980s.I so enjoyed the business aspect of this book and it's the first time I've read the follow up immediately. There should be more novels with a business story line.