The Forager Chefs Club
"...has everything I love in a novel...Curl up with this one by the fire and enjoy." -J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest and national bestsellers Saturday Night at the Late-Night Supper Club and The Lager Queen of Minnesota
"Readers will relish the abundant descriptions of food and drink. A flavorful mélange of intriguing characters and Top Chef-style reality TV." -Kirkus Reviews
When the enigmatic Forager Chefs Club accepts a contract to host a terroir cooking competition, five people are selected to participate in what could be a life-changing event. Each has motivations and histories that could help or hinder. There is Celeste, young and sheltered, raised on an island by her hippie mother and relegated to kitchen prep duties at a prestigious resort hotel; Christian, who left culinary school to care for his dying mother in a city struggling to survive; Blaise, an up-and-coming chef who sees himself as the benevolent caretaker of his twin brother with autism while others perceive it as exploitation; Eden, who brings pride and talent to the dinners she cooks at her father's mission in Detroit; and Daniel, a private chef fighting his in-laws' attempts to declare him an unfit father after his wife's tragic death. As the competition gets underway, it doesn't take long for alliances, strategies, and mind games to evolve.
Filled with heart and sprinkled throughout with foraging and cooking tips, The Forager Chefs Club shows that where food comes from matters, and what comes out of the kitchen can feed more than just the body.
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"The Forager's Chefs Club has everything I love in a novel: complex characters, beautifully described settings, a ton of heart and empathy, and incredible food. Curl up with this one by the fire and enjoy." -J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest and national bestsellers Saturday Night at the Late-Night Supper Club and The Lager Queen of Minnesota
"What a treat-it's not often that foragers get to see our pastime realistically depicted in a work of fiction. I had to stay up late in my hammock reading by moonlight just to find out how the threads of all five forager chefs were tied together in the end." -Samuel Thayer, foraging expert and author of Sam Thayer's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants, winner of the 2023 National Outdoor Book Award, Incredible Wild Edibles: 36 Plants That Will Change Your Life, and Nature's Garden: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants
"Michigan native Walston, an avid gardener/forager now living on a small homestead in rural northern Virginia, showcases the bounty of her home state and develops an array of interesting contestants within this novel's effective competition construct, which has the excitement and feel of high-stakes reality TV. Readers will relish the abundant descriptions of food and drink. A flavorful mélange of intriguing characters and Top Chef-style reality TV." -Kirkus Reviews
"Rita Mace Walston's The Forager Chefs Club is a love letter to foraging and cooking, full of mouthwatering descriptions, cooking tips, and even a few recipes. Walston highlights the world of competitive cooking with a deft eye, chronicling the ups and downs of the competitors. This heartfelt story will keep you reading." -Ellen Birkett Morris, author of Beware the Tall Grass: A Novel and Lost Girls: Short Stories
"This novel has it all: suspense, wisdom, humor, intelligence, and so much great food! The competitors are all wonderfully distinct and memorable, and the sparkling prose delivers surprise after surprise. This is a book you won't be able to put down, creating complex tones of anticipation and dread, awe and recognition. A wonderful read." -Fred Leebron, author of The News Said It Was, Out West, Six Figures, and In the Middle of All This, coeditor of Postmodern American Fiction: A Norton Anthology, and coauthor of Creating Fiction: A Writer's Companion
"Author Rita Mace Walston's immediate standout feature as an author is her ability to craft complex, multidimensional characters whose personal struggles and ambitions are deeply engaging to watch as different attitudes and approaches clash. The unique concept of environmentally balanced cooking and foraging brings the culinary world to life in a competitive and exciting way, making the novel a literal feast for the imagination. Walston's skillful weaving of plot twists and character interactions keeps the story dynamic and unpredictable as the contest and the interpersonal drama heat up, keeping readers hanging on for the next unexpected change of pace. The Forager Chefs Club is a superb work of drama and suspense that's sure to please both the imagination and appetite." -Readers' Favorite Review
