Book Review: Duck À L’Orange For Breakfast by Karina May

Maxine (Max) Mayberry is an ad executive with big writing ambitions. However, one night, she discovers her long-term boyfriend in bed with another woman and is forced to move out into her best friend’s apartment. If that wasn’t bad enough, Max was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour. To distract her from her impending surgery, she downloads Tinder and e-meets Johnny, her new pen pal. They agree to start a cook-off competition where every day they individually cook and send a picture of a dish from the Laurent Family Cookbook (Max’s ex-boyfriend’s family’s French recipe book). All this without ever actually meeting.

This slow-burn romance novel is a debut novel by Australian author Karina May. It is full of vibrant descriptions of food and conversely sombre pictures of the trials and tribulations that come with sickness. It also explores the idea of frankness represented through Max’s best friend, pitying via her parents, and the art of communicating with someone who is unwell. This notion is cleverly interwoven throughout the novel and is broken up with humour and of course, love, particularly exploring the juxtaposition between toxic masculinity and the “nice guy”.

This story has an atypical plot line and keeps readers on their toes. Just when you think the story has reached a plateau, there is another curve ball that Max must face. However, despite her many troubles, Max is consistently in control of her own narrative, and we are able to see her thinking and reasoning behind each decision. Whilst I did not agree with all her decisions, I learnt to respect her reasoning and appreciated how being unwell can change a mindset and influence actions. In addition to the notion of decision-making, mistakes are part of the process and readers watch Max find her way through the decision-making maze to a happy ending that makes this book a wholesome love story.

Rating: 4.5/5

You can purchase a copy of Duck À L’Orange for Breakfast here