Amazon.co.uk Review
"Hazel Pope was 12 years old when she first bared her buttocks for biscuits". As opening lines go, the start of Miles Gibson's novel
Vinegar Soup is pretty good. Not only is it arresting, it is also wonderfully apposite for a novel in which the elemental importance of food pervades every aspect of human activity. Gibson's novel was first published in 1987 and this re- issue is particularly welcome at a time when foody-ism has never been so in vogue. The novel opens with Gilbert Firestone, "fat and fifty", making his dreams of escape from the kitchen of The Hercules Cafe come true when his wife drowns in a vat of soup. Gilbert heads for the steamy jungles of Africa; the rain and the crazy chickens nearly destroy him, but there are also "gooseberries as big as porcupines", and the looming figure of Charlotte, who "stuffed him with cakes and soaked him with beer". In return Gilbert, "gorged on her words and stared at her with love in his eyes", and the ensuing sweet and sour combination of love, lust, heartache and food makes
Vinegar Soup a gastronomic romance to be consumed with relish. Bon apetit. --
Nick Wroe
The Sunday Times Feb 1999
Romping, ribald and richly aromatic black comedy of greasy cafes, dark continents and jungle hotels.
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