John Saturnall's Feast

A beautiful, rich and sensuous historical novel,John Saturnall’s Feasttells the story of a young orphan who becomes a kitchen boy at a manor house, and rises through the ranks to become the greatest Cook of his generation. It is a story of food, star-crossed lovers, ancient myths and one boy’s rise from outcast to hero.

It is the early 17th century, and John Saturnall is a young boy growing up in the village of Buckland. He is bullied by other children, who claim that his mother is a witch. When many of the children in the village are struck down with a sickness, John’s mother is blamed, and he and she are chased out of the village. They go and live a hermit-like life in a nearby wood, where it is said a witch called Buccla once grew a legendary garden. Giving what little they find to eat to her son, John’s mother dies of starvation, but sees to it that John be taken in at the Buckland Manor house, where he begins working in the kitchens.

At the Manor, John quickly rises from kitchen-boy to Cook, and is known for his uniquely keen palate and natural cooking ability. However, he quickly gets on the wrong side of Lady Lucretia, the aristocratic daughter of the Lord of the Manor. In order to inherit the estate, Lucretia must wed, but her fiancé is an arrogant buffoon whose face Lucretia thinks resembles a water-parsnip. When Lucretia takes on a vow of hunger until her father calls off her engagement to her insipid husband-to-be, it falls to John to try to cook her delicious foods that might tempt her to break her fast. As John serves meals to Lucretia, the pair forget their differences and become close, but fate is conspiring against them. Lucretia’s betrothement cannot be undone, and soon the household is thrown into chaos as Cromwell’s Roundheads go to war with the loyalist Cavaliers.

Reminiscent ofWolf Hall,Gould’s Book of FishandThe Debt to Pleasure,John Saturnall’s Feastis a brilliant work from a writer at the top of his powers, and a delight for all the senses.

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A beautiful, rich and sensuous historical novel, JOHN SATURNALL’S FEAST tells the story of a young orphan who becomes a kitchen boy at a manor house, and rises through the ranks to become the greatest Cook of his generation. It’s a story of food, forbidden love, ancient myths and one boy’s rise from outcast to hero.

The book’s chapters are interspersed with richly evocative texts and recipes from The Book of John Saturnall, a (fictitious) collection of recipes penned by Saturnall towards the end of his life. These pieces are written in a rich, thick historical style and will be beautifully illustrated in our edition.

As the book opens, John, who has grown up in the Vale of Buckland (in the South-West of modern-day England) is being taken to the Manor House to meet the head cook there, Richard SCOVELL. John was found in an area of the Vale known to the locals as “Buccla’s Wood” and steeped in pagan legend. The legend goes that Buccla, a witch, ruled over the Vale in ancient times, growing an enormous garden. With food from the garden, Buccla held a great Feast, to which everyone – no matter their station in life – was invited. Locals say that this garden was the inspiration for Eden.

As John travels to the Manor, he thinks about his childhood and the reader is told in flashback of how he and his mother were thrown out of the village following a spate of sickness for which she was blamed – she was thought to be a witch. John and his mother went to live a hermit’s life in a small cottage in the middle of a forest – Buccla’s Wood – where they survived by foraging for chestnuts, berries, and anything else they could find. But John’s mother, saving food to feed her son rather than eating herself, starved, and John was powerless to help her. Their only consolation in this time of great privation was in the stories that John’s mother told – stories about the ancient past of the Vale.

Meanwhile, in the present, John arrives at the Manor. The Lord of the Manor is SIR WILLIAM, and he has only one child, a daughter, LADY LUCRETIA. Lucretia, who is about eleven years old when John arrives at the Manor, lives a charmed life, playing games with her housemaid and enjoying a childhood befitting a young aristocrat. However, as Sir William’s title – and the Manor – cannot pass to a woman, Lucretia must get married in short order to safeguard her inheritance. Sir William agrees to take John in, and he begins working in the kitchens. When John first meets Lucretia, he does not show her the respect befitting her class, and she takes an instant dislike to him. But no better is the young man to whom she is promised: the extremely arrogant PIERS Callock, whose face Lucretia thinks resembles a water parsnip.

At first, the noise, smells and bustle of the kitchen overwhelms John, but he soon finds his feet. One of the Head Cooks calls John to taste a soup – his naturally keen palate and knowledge of herbs and spices allow him to reel off a list of the soup’s ingredients, greatly impressing the cook. John begins his time in the kitchen in the scullery, washing plates and pans, but, having mastered this lowest rang of the kitchen, he proceeds to Firsts, where the bulk of food preparation happens. There, he learns how to use a knife, cleaving apples perfectly in two with no effort. Master Scovell, the head of the kitchen, recognizes John’s talent, and tells him that he reminds him of John’s mother, who also served at the Manor, as nursemaid and midwife to Sir William’s late wife, Lady Anne, when she was pregnant. The child, Lucretia, was born safely but Lady Anne died in childbirth, and Sir William expelled all of the servants who had witnessed the incident – including John’s mother. Soon, John’s time in Firsts is complete, and he progresses to the Kitchen. He learns how to prepare a huge variety of dishes, and, as the seasons and years pass, becomes ever more accomplished. He also begins to feel the stirrings of puberty, noticing the girl servants and even finding himself thinking improper thoughts about Lady Lucretia.

John is given the task of preparing a special dessert for a great meal: a Dish of Candied Baubles in the form of the Tantalus myth (Tantalus was condemned by the Gods to stare at a pool of water which would draw away from him as he would try to drink). The dish requires immense skill and patience to prepare – carefully simmering Madeira sugar with water, and clarifying the mixture with an egg without clouding it. The mixture must be sprinkled with salt in order to remain clear – the salty liquid will rise to the surface and then be skimmed off. Scovell tastes the finished dish and declares it a great success – which is just as well, as it is announced later that day that the King (Charles I) himself will be visiting Buckland Manor…

The Manor’s kitchen is soon thronging with the King and Queen’s footmen and ladies-in-waiting. The Queen meets with Lady Lucretia, and brings her a dress. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, John is to prepare the Tantalus dish for the King’s gentlemen while a concoction of elaborate cream-filled pastries will be served to the King himself. The kitchen is busier than it has ever been, and just as the King’s pastry dish is being taken out to the dining hall, a young kitchen boy runs into the people carrying it, and the whole dish falls onto the floor. Thinking quickly, Scovell decides that John’s Tantalus must be served to the King. There is no greater honor for a Cook. But when the King takes a taste of the dish, he spits it out, decl