Recipes for a Nervous Breakdown by Sophie White Book Review

I'll admit, my Irish Authors Month in March did not go well. At all. I finished two books in March, with only one of them being Irish (Things in Jars by Jess Kidd). Nothing from the TBR took my fancy. And then I remembered this book. I was at the Irish Book Awards when it was nominated in 2016. And Chloe from NurseFancyPants rated it highly too so I decided to get it from the library in a bid to break my reading slump.

Part memoir, part cookbook, Recipes for a Nervous Breakdown is a searingly honest account of Sophie White's experiences with mental health, her tempestuous relationship with her mother, the devastation of her father being diagnosed with early onset dementia, marriage and motherhood. It genuinely made me laugh, cry and ponder on events in my own life.

We also learn about how Sophie came to train as a cook and each chapter has recipes inspired by the subject of that chapter. I loved this format! For example when it came to the recipes for the chapter on her relationship with her husband, Sophie says she could have picked more traditionally romantic foods but instead chose curries as it sums them up better and honestly, I felt that. I've already earmarked a few recipes I want to try out. The photography in the book is beautiful too which is a bonus. A well balanced book.

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A post shared by Breige Flynn (@rareopalreads) on Apr 21, 2019 at 7:31am PDT