Week 12: Literary Fiction Annotation
Piglet by Lottie Hazell
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Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Date: January 2024
Number of Pages: 306 pages
Geographical Setting: Oxford and London, England
Time Period: 2024
Series: n/a
Plot Summary:
Piglet is a young woman with an insatiable hunger. As a nearly-wed, new homeowner, and a cookbook editor up for a promotion, she is only a few weeks out from her wedding when her fiancé reveals a truth about himself that may upend their impending nuptials. Stung by his betrayal Piglet begins to come apart at the seems as she balances the weight of everyone else's expectations, pressure at work, and all of her own internal expectations as well. Soon she finds herself even more hungry than before. By the time the wedding arrives, Piglet has descended into madness, unrecognizable to herself and others.
An exploration of women's desires, this debut fiction will dazzling readers with its unapologetic descriptions of what it means to be hungry for it all- for food, a career, a successful marriage, the perfect wedding dress and cake- and how it can all come crashing down so quickly.
Subject Headings:
Literary fiction
Female leads
Desire
Marriage
Gender roles
Appeal:
Pacing: readers will be intrigued by the count down format of this story. Starting 98 days before Piglet and Kit's wedding, the plot thickens with each passing day, until we arrive on the wedding day. Chapters vary in length but overall the pacing is quick.
Mood: this book has a mysterious, unsettling feeling that will leave readers wondering what will happen next. While Kit's indiscretion is never fully revealed, there are enough hints to leave readers guessing and empathizing with Piglet. The mystery and mood of the book may well be familiar to any reader who has ever felt lost or out of control.
Ideas: at the heart of this book is the exploration of desire, deceit, and hunger. Readers are invited to mean what it means to be hungry in the traditional sense as well as in a metaphorical sense, if greed and excess are more dangerous depending on one's gender, and the lengths to which someone will go to have their perfect life, even if it is only picture perfect.
3 terms that best describe this book: raw, vulnerable, delicious
3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors
What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women and the Food that Tells Their Stories- Laura Shapiro
This book provides an inside look into the cuisine that shaped the lives of six women throughout history including Eleanor Roosevelt and Eva Braun. Shapiro's explanations provide a great narrative to why this study matters and invites the reader to think critically about historical diets can reveal much about someone's character.
Wanting: Women Writing About Desire- Margot Kahn and Kelly McMasters
This anthology includes essays by award-winning and emerging female authors as they share their deepest desires: for time, love, luxury items, and sex, among many other things.
Three Women- Lisa Taddeo
Taddeo's book is an exposition of the desires, heartbreaks, and infatuations of three women across the United States. A different type of hunger, readers may find themselves or someone they know among the pages.
3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors
Supper Club- Lara Williams
After a coy suggestion to throw a women's only dinner party, Roberta's feasts soon become wild, late-night affairs. As more people start to attend, these feasts become more clandestine, illicit, and steamy, leaving the reader contemplating what types of women, hunger, and love society allows to flourish.
Fruit of the Dead- Rachel Lyon
A reimagining of the myth of Persephone and Demeter, this story follows 18 year old Cory as she is whisked away to a private island by a powerful man who overloads her with luxury and opiates. While Cory believes that she is still in control, her mother Emer suspects otherwise, and sets off to find her daughter. An exploration of love, desire, control, and obliteration, readers will not soon forget this tale.
Hello Beautiful- Ann Napolitano
William and Julia had different upbringings and family dynamics, but that doesn't prevent Julia from pulling William into her orbit. A past darkness revealed jeopardizes Julia's plans for her future and shakes her sister's loyalty, causing a rift in her family that changes their life for generations.
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This seems like a title that, had I walked by it on a shelf, I probably wouldn't have picked it up, however, the summary you provide has me intrigued... I like the fact that the story covers all facets of hunger (not just the physical-food type, as the cover seems to imply), and I'm curious as to what choice Piglet ends up making.
ReplyDeleteThe pacing form seems really interesting and I especially like the descriptors you chose. Two of your read-alikes also piqued my interest; Wanting and Fruit of the Dead. Have you read either of these titles?
Hi Maryanne! I chose this title because it was a new release and I liked the cover art. You'll have to read the book to see what she decides, but I agree it is a difficult choice to make. I haven't read any of the fiction titles, but I have read Three Women and What She Ate! Three Women read very quickly and What She Ate was a little more pensive but still enlightening in that it made me think of food and cuisine in a new way!
DeleteThis book sounds really interesting! I especially like how you describe the pacing of the novel - I am really intrigued by the countdown format. I've been enjoying literary fiction a lot more this year than usual so I will definitely be adding this to my list!
ReplyDeleteI agree with our classmates' comments about pacing. In fact, I thought it odd that a literary fiction piece could be fast-paced, but I suppose there are some that are! I like how you described the plot, and I think many readers (women in particular) will identify with Piglet's being pulled in all different directions. I also like your description of the book as "delicious"! Finally, do you feel bad for her that her name is Piglet? :o)
ReplyDeleteWell, Piglet is a nickname and she is only called by her legal name once in the end. I do feel annoyed for her, because it was a childhood nickname that no matter how much she learns and grows and changes people can only think of her as her childhood self. I think a lot of young women will relate to that- everyone wanting to infantilize you- and a lot of readers will see themselves in Piglet.
DeleteThis book sounds so intriguing! Great job with your details and writing. Excellent job on this annotation!
ReplyDelete