Today I’m delighted to welcome women’s novelist Kate Frost.
Her ‘Porridge & Cream’ read is the classic Chocolat by Joanne Harris. 
“To be honest, I have more than one ‘Porridge and Cream’ book, and they’re all quite different, but the book I’d happily pick up when feeling ill or run down is Joanne Harris’ Chocolat – a delicious and delightful character-driven novel centred around single mother and chocolatier Vianne Rocher and her young daughter, Anouk. I first read it over a summer, not long after it had been published, so around 2000 or 2001. I’d recently moved in with my boyfriend (now husband) and we’d been to Greece together to meet his parents and the whole of his extended Greek family, so a book set in a French village that immersed its characters in local life with the focus being on food and delicious chocolate creations resonated with me and my first experiences of a Greek family and their abundance of delicious food.
I’ve only read Chocolat two or three times (like I said it’s one of a number of favourites), but it is the perfect book to get pulled into when I’m feeling down. The most recent time I read it was after recovering from a minor operation and the wooziness of a general anaesthetic. It was winter time and cold and grey outside and Chocolat with its luscious descriptions was the perfect antidote to raise my spirits. The setting is what appeals most and the way Joanne Harris weaves smells, textures and tastes throughout the novel is perfect.”
Kate Frost’s Bio
Kate has always made up stories, ever since she started writing at seven years-old when she spent months at home recovering from open heart surgery for a hole in her heart. After working various jobs including in a factory, a cinema, a bookshop, as a Health Advisor and Team Manager at NHS Direct, and a Supporting Artist in the films Vanity Fair, King Arthur and The Duchess, she’s now lucky enough to spend her time running around after her energetic just-turned-three year-old and writing novels. Kate has a MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University and has published two women’s fiction novels and a time travel adventure for 9-12 year olds.
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Kate Frost’s books
Kate’s debut novel, The Butterfly Storm, was published in 2013 and has recently had a cover revamp. Set in Greece and on the north Norfolk coast it follows Sophie as she escapes an unsatisfying life with her boyfriend, Alekos, and a domineering Greek mother-in-law to be, to come back to the UK to look after her estranged mum after she’s injured in a motorbike accident. Faced with a physical and emotional distance from Alekos, a complicated relationship with her mum, an emerging friendship with a handsome and newly divorced man, and a shock discovery, will Sophie be able to make the tough decision of where she wants to be and, ultimately, who she wants to be with?
‘Butterfly Storm’ by Kate Frost [UK: Lemon Tree Press]
What is a ‘Porridge & Cream’ book? It’s the book you turn to when you need a familiar read, when you are tired, ill, or out-of-sorts, where you know the story and love it. Where reading it is like slipping on your oldest, scruffiest slippers after walking for miles. Where does the name ‘Porridge & Cream’ come from? Cat Deerborn is a character in Susan Hill’s ‘Simon Serrailler’ detective series. Cat is a hard-worked GP, a widow with two children and she struggles from day-to-day. One night, after a particularly difficult day, she needs something familiar to read. From her bookshelf she selects ‘Love in A Cold Climate’ by Nancy Mitford. Do you have a favourite read which you return to again and again? If so, please send me a message via the contact form here.
‘Chocolat’ by Joanne Harris [UK: Black Swan]
Discover the ‘Porridge & Cream’ books of these authors:-
Rosie Dean
Rachel Dove
JG Harlond
And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
Why does #author @Kactus77 love CHOCOLAT by @Joannechocolat #amreading via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2py
So I’m going with another choice: Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos – a book I love so much I named one of my characters after the author. I studied it at university in the 90s (it’s one of the few books I’ve read in French and English, back when I was capable of reading more than a menu in French!). The edition I prefer is the Penguin Classic, translated by PWK Stone. I probably go back to it every couple of years, more if I’m prompted by seeing the film on TV. I usually give myself long enough to forget the intricacies of the plot (which is far more complicated and satisfying than the movie) so I can enjoy its richness again. It’s a book to read when I want to be amused and distracted but perhaps a little more stimulated than when I turn to Pratchett (as I’ve read his so many times they nourish me, but all blur into one another slightly!).
It isn’t easy to surprise Cassandra Bick. When you run a human-vampire dating agency, your colleague is a witch who is engaged to a shifter and your business partner is one of London’s most powerful (and sexiest) vampires, there’s no such thing as a normal day at the office. But when a mysterious Dark Dates client brings a dire warning of a new threat to the city’s supernatural community, Cass and her friends realise they are up against their deadliest foe yet – and that this time, the danger is far closer to home than they could ever have imagined.
The book opens in Monte Carlo, where the heroine (we never know her name) meets and marries widower Maxim de Winter after a whirlwind courtship. He whisks her away to Manderley, his Gothic mansion in Cornwall. The new bride soon discovers there are dark secrets lurking in Manderley and that the memory of the first Mrs de Winter, the beautiful and witty Rebecca, is very much alive. Maxim spends more and more time away on business, leaving the second Mrs de Winter alone with her insecurities and the creepy housekeeper, Mrs Danvers, who resents her taking the place of her adored Rebecca.
About
A Town Like Alice was the first adult book I read. I was nine. I watched the film one afternoon with Dad and he told me he had the book. As a bookworm, when the film finished the obvious thing to do was locate it in the bookcase and carry it off to my room. If I close my eyes I can still see the red ribbon to mark reading progress and the dark blue and white pattern on the inner cover.
For Ava Bliss, it’s going to be a Christmas to remember …
“It was 2009. My second baby in fourteen months had not long been born, and having two boys under two while my husband worked long hours was hard work. I was studying for a degree and writing in my spare time, with dreams of being an author and teacher when the children were older. My days consisted of looking after my children and the house, staying awake and reading to escape, to relax. I remember seeing an advert for the new HBO 
The perfect escape to the country…
At the appointed time, we would gather in one of our rooms, coffee, biscuits and books to hand, and read for half an hour, occasionally sharing a juicy passage for further entertainment. One day, Prudence was in the mix and I was hooked.
The main thing which draws me to this book (okay, these books) is the setting. The trilogy charts the life of Paul Craddock from the moment he arrives in “the valley” in South Devon in 1902 until his death in 1965. But it’s not only his life and loves, but those of his family, his tenants and his neighbours woven into a wonderful tapestry which bridges the generations as English country life changes forever.”
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