'Cooking with Fernet Branca' by James Hamilton-Paterson

It was exciting to contemplate an Italian themed afternoon discussion of  'Cooking with Fernet Branca', not just for the whimsy of the work, but to spend time on Kevin's gorgeous deck.

We devoured delicious antipasto off borrowed Tuscan plates and sipped L'Ambrusco dell Emilia, a deceptively sweet fizz that tinted the glasses a frosty red in the dappled sunlight.

A perfect wine to lead into the sweetly acerbic tale before us.

For in using the digestive liquor of Fernet Branca in the title, one can't help but draw parallels to the bitter kick underlying the lightly amusing characters of the tale. Aptly described as liquorice flavoured mouthwash, we all tried a swig of the titles namesake and discovered it to be as effective a satire of the wine industry as the work was of its characters! Even the South american style of mixing with cola could not disguise the medicinal personality of this black hearted beverage.

Kevin confessed to being given the book in 1974 but it took him several decades to get to reading it!  Book club pays off at last! And very glad we were for the delay, as everyone seemed to enjoy the light style with its sharp satyrical edge.

Key to its comedic success is the juxtaposition of the 2 main characters differing point of view of the same situation, in a careful blending of reality and fantasy. This device was at its strongest and most amusing when each describe the others idiosyncrasies, and the reader delights in the similarities the characters cannot see. A merciless spotlight is cast on the world of celebrity, politics, crime and culture and the clever style of changing character viewpoints ensures no one escapes judgement.

This is a wonderful satire that exposes some quite Olympian snobbery that manifests in various ways. Cultures clash, tastes jar, and the comedic pratfall elements leave the reader reeling in much the same way as a glass of Fernet Branca assaults the tastebuds. And the lesson learned is that we must we wary of the lens through which we view life's events. We leap to stereotypes and judge accordingly, but there is much to discover if we delve more deeply into the detail of each individuals reality. Importantly - don't necessarily believe what other people tell you - sometimes it's worse!!

Meanwhile the included recipes cleverly blur the line between the possible and the gag inducing, and this device again remind us of the multiple ingredients that combine to make a personality - both palatable and unpalatable. And on occasion completely indigestible.

We all enjoyed the work, finding it amusing and witty, with enough of a comedic edge to lift it slightly above the level of mere fluff. Its success has spawned 2 more novels to complete a sharply triangulated trilogy and several of us are keen to continue discovering these funny, deeply flawed but accessible characters.

And now that we have all tasted Fernet Branca... we wish we had remained in blissful ignorance.

Thank heaven the breathtakingly delicious orange and almond cake for Marks birthday erased the bitter memory. And was infinitely digestible.

Kevin 8

Andrew 8

Dennis 8

Rajah 8.5

Alenna 7