Recently posted over at the super awesome blog PAPER/PLATES is my article about Banana Yoshimoto‘s short novel Kitchen and how it reminds me of my favourite chicken dinner from childhood. PAPER/PLATES is run by my friend Amina Elahi and it features book reviews, delicious recipes, and (the best part) recipes inspired by books.

Here’s a snippet of my post:

What is remarkable about Kitchen is that it manages to explore the many facets of loss without being a depressing story. Grief is revealed to be simple actions and complex reactions. It is depicted as a lingering emotion in a world that eventually succeeds in pulling us forward. It neither validates nor invalidates who we are and what we believe in. Whenever I feel tragedy is overplayed in movies and underplayed in the news, I return to this refreshing reminder that grief is a part of all our lives but it is not the only part.

You can read the rest of the article and find the chicken divan recipe here.

And make sure to check out the rest of the blog too!