FICTION

The Restaurant Critic's Wife

by Elizabeth LaBan
Lake Union. Jan. 2016. 352p. ISBN 9781503947757. pap. $14.95. F
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Pity the poor wife of a restaurant critic. Sure, she may get to eat mountains of food comped by her husband's employer (and the food is all lusciously described), but not all of her life is sweet. Lila is married to Sam, who has recently taken a new critic's job in Philadelphia. Expecting her second child, she feels cut off from her familiar New Orleans roots. Sam's paranoia that restaurants might discover his identity makes it a difficult adjustment for Lila. He'd prefer that she not return to work, that she not make any friends with people connected to the food world; even meeting her neighbors makes Sam nervous.
VERDICT Sam's attitude throughout the book is hard to swallow, but Lila is a gripping character. Author LaBan (The Tragedy Paper), who is married to a restaurant critic, excellently makes the joys and difficulties of young motherhood feel real on the page. Readers who are in the thick of raising a young family will enjoy, as will foodies looking for insight into the restaurant world.
Reviewed by Jennifer Mills, Shorewood-Troy Lib., IL , Oct 01, 2015
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