Season to Taste

Lizzie Prain, 50-something, lives in a cottage in a quiet part of Surrey, with her dog. She generally avoids the neighbours. She likes cooking. She is married to Jacob.

Lizzie hasn't worked for some time, but the recruitment agency have found her a nice job in the reception of a hotel just over on the A31 between Guildford and Farnham. She can walk to work! It feels good to be busy again.

Lizzie also has a sideline in baking cakes. She made one that looks like a pair of shoes, for the young man who works behind the bar in the Dog and Duck to give to his girlfriend.

No-one's seen Lizzie's husband, Jacob, for a few days. That's because Lizzie killed him last weekend by caving in the back of his head with a spade. Over the course of the next month, she will eat his body, piece by piece, starting with his hands and feet, and orbiting in towards his heart. She is composing a guide to help other women who find themselves in this situation, full of recipes, tips for dealing with unusual smells in the kitchen and the metabolic changes that accompany such a protein-rich diet, as well as how to field the awkward questions, the loneliness, and the nightmares that will follow.

Funny, sad, exquisitely written and deeply disturbing, Season to Taste is a novel about the definitive end of a marriage, and its very strange aftermath.