Let's get writing

When I picked up Piglet by Lottie Hazell, I was immediately sold on the beautiful glossy cover of a deliciously illustrated burger. From my online searching, it seems the UK version is a stack of donuts which is also a stunning representation of the character’s infatuation with food. 

Piglet’s one desire is to be viewed as perfect. She works hard at her job, she finds passion in the kitchen, and she creates the perfect life with her perfect fiancé. Piglet, like many women, strive to be the best no matter who (or what) they bring down in order to do that. 

As the [assistant] editor of many tantalizing cookbooks, Piglet centers her life around food. There is a moment where we uncover some past trauma with food and her family’s comments, but only in a slight pass of memories that don’t fully relate to her. She strives to be the best home chef and to replicate her author’s recipes to entertain guests ranging from casual summer nights to her own wedding.

After discovering a painful secret from her fiancé, she keeps it together for only a brief moment. However, as we all know, betrayal is a hard thing to swallow. Piglet uses her desire to be seen as perfect to suppress her emotions and instead gorges herself on burgers, Indian food, and more. She turns herself into a sweating monster who can’t stop eating. This turn of character is a bit shocking as she has tried so hard to impress others, and at the risk of losing her job and her perfect life, she lets go.

Piglet is a modern tale of food obsession as well as acting as a discussion on perfectionism, wanting to impress others or even “win” in life. Sacrificing her dignity, beauty, and her posh in-laws, Piglet returns to who she really is – a woman who loves a good meal, a good book, and her friends. But does she really learn or understand the consequences of her actions? It seems to be determined.

I find that the writing style of Piglet is relatively easy for those who want a casual peruse or those who are looking more into the food writing genre. Although, there are definitely some instances of second-hand embarrassment! The topic of eating disorders is not new in this genre, following titles like Milkfed which touch on the likeness of food and sexuality. However, this is not a commentary on that, only briefly mentioning a side comment or two about childhood behaviors. With regards to the efforts made by the author, I would say this was an easy read, but I wish the character had more development throughout, owning her desire to be perfect or completely doing a 180. Either would have been fine, but we are left with a slightly uncertain ending of what Piglet has learned.
Piglet is a 2024 pub, and author debut, that has captured the attention of food lovers all over. This was a great first dive into Hazell’s writing style and story development, and with some improvements, I think she can create more titles in the food writing genre.