This manages to be the most entertaining, informative and indeed touching book against (I'd have thought) all the odds. Allotment codgers meet Jean de Florette with added planting tips and recipes, all woven through with the threads of secret lives just glimpsed, plus some homely wisdom.
Lots of things resonate, whether you're a veg-grower (actual or would-be), a cook, a lover of tales. To combine all these strands in a coherent narrative is a tall order. But this is such a good read. At one level I've learned some genuinely new and useful facts about germination and pests, the rhythm of the seasons, herb and spice combinations, you name it.... At another I was hooked by the verging-on-skulduggery and goings-on of what we can only call the Plot.
And did I mention that it's also very funny? It's certainly like no other book I've read!