Kitchens Of The Great Midwest - Softcover

An oven-warm yet bittersweet collection of character studies circling the story of Eva Thorvald . . . Hilariously precise in its cultural geography . . . But in spite of its locavorous detail, the novel's plot is driven by a universal truth: that food brings people together (Independent on Sunday)

Kitchens of the Great Midwest is a big-hearted, funny, and class-transcending pleasure. It's also both a structural and empathetic tour de force, stepping across worlds in the American midwest, and demonstrating with an enviable tenderness and ingenuity the tug of war between our freedom to pursue our passions and our obligations to those we love. (Jim Shepard)

This offbeat debut features many satisfying ingredients, including triumph over adversity, recipes and a warm Midwestern backdrop (Mail on Sunday)

Stradal creates something quirky, affecting and delicious (Sunday Mirror)

Fun and original (Woman and Home)

Stradal's delicious debut reveals Eva's sweet, sad, funny self in a series of funny vignettes (Psychologies)

A gorgeous feast that feeds both the senses and the soul (Simple Things)

A tender coming-of-age story with a mix of finely rendered pathos and humour . . . Ultimately, Kitchens reveals the strong interplay among food, family and our most cherished memories . . . Stradal suggests that love - or the absence of love - is the most powerful condition of all (Washington Post)

From the quite literally burning passions of a lonely eleven-year-old girl with an exceptional palate, to the ethical dilemmas behind a batch of Blue Ribbon Peanut Butter Bars, J. Ryan Stradal writes with a special kind of meticulous tenderness - missing nothing and accepting everything. A superbly gratifying debut (Meg Howrey)

Time flew by when we sat down with Kitchens of the Great Midwest, a charming and unusual first novel . . . We were blown away by Stradal's flair for depicting messy emotions and mixed-up families, and delighted by his insightful and funny reflections on foodie culture and class dynamics (iBooks, Book of the Month)