It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

Such a tempting title. I simply had to read the book, especially since it is about yum yums.

By Moira Hodgson, about her growing up post WWII years with a diplomat father (who turned out to be a MI6 spy) and gregarious mother in exotic locations with a wild smorgasbord of foods and adventures, and even a simpler but happy life with "Fletcherising" Ganga and Granny.

I guess the most memorable part of the book would be her memories of her grandparents. I loved how Ganga forced her and her friends to fletcherise her food 32 times at the dining table. I admired her Grandmother for being one of the first women to graduate from college and being a capable housemistress while teaching science in Sherborne.

It's like reading the Monsoon Diary all over again. I loved the growing up years, didn't really like the middle (especially when I found out she had a 7 year relationship with a married man!!!) then empathised with her at the end where she described the loss of her father. Despite his cheating and her strong, destructive reaction to it (and then ironically her own role as a third party, which really infuriated me), you could see that her father loved her and she, him very much, through his watching out for her and her desperate cooking at the end and plying him with his favourite foods in the hopes that if he ate, he could live longer. I can understand and relate to the sentiment.

My other peeve is that Moira never said what happened to Nanny. Like all the characters in her memories, Nanny's presence was significant but fleeting.

I hope she prints her Grandma George's 300-page recipe book, half of which is devoted to puddings.