Heartbake

Reviewed By  Janet Mawdesley       July 31, 2023

 

Author  Charlotte Ree

Distributor:      Allen and Unwin
ISBN:                 9781761067600
Publisher:         Allen and Unwin
Release Date:   May 2023  

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A bittersweet memoir

CHARLOTTE REE

After submitting an essay for Vogue Australia, Charlotte Ree was persuaded to write her memoir as a complete book. She has done this in an interesting way in Heartbake; A Bittersweet Memoir.

Her life has been bound by cooking and preparing food with her mother and later her husband. Her experiences, good and bad, are often linked to cooking or eating food.

Charlottes earliest memories are of time spent with her mother who loved food but was not a good cook. She was an amazingly passionate and loving mother, who would stop at nothing to ensure the well being of her children.

When her children were born she gave them a heart song which she would sing to them each night. Home life was rather unstable though as Mum was bi polar and somewhat erratic at times.

Relationships were rather difficult for Charlotte to manage and even though she travelled and spent time overseas with friends, she returned to Australia and married. Her husband was a magnificent cook and although she loved him dearly, he was very controlling; they eventually parted.

Slowly Charlotte began to rebuild her life and tried to find solace in many ways. Eventually she found a peace within herself and is now more settled.

 Many people could think of a food that accompanied a special time in their life. For Charlotte, a very sensory person, this is certainly the case. She has included a range of recipes at the back of the book that look delicious, many of which are her favourites. She has also included instructions for “How to Sabre Champagne”, something we all need to know.

Heartbake: A Bittersweet Memoir is compact enough to fit into a large handbag.