Plenty: A Memoir of Food and Family

A moving reflection on motherhood, friendship, and women making their mark on the world of food from the author of Feast.

Food writer Hannah Howard is at a pivotal moment in her life when she begins searching out her fellow food people--women who've carved a place for themselves in a punishing, male-dominated industry. Women whose journeys have inspired and informed Hannah's own foodie quests. On trips that take her from Milan to Bordeaux to Oslo and then always back again to her home in New York City, Hannah spends time with these influential women, learning about the intimate paths that led them each toward fulfilling careers. Each chef, entrepreneur, barista, cheesemaker, barge captain, and culinary instructor expands our long-held beliefs about how the worldwide network of food professionals and enthusiasts works.

But amid her travels, Hannah finds herself on a heart-wrenching private path. Her plans to embark on motherhood bring her through devastating lows and unimaginable highs. Hannah grapples with personal joy, loss, and a lifelong obsession with food that is laced with insecurity and darker compulsions. Looking to her food heroes for solace, companionship, and inspiration, she discovers new ways to appreciate her body and nourish her life.

At its heart, this lovely and candid memoir explores food as a point of passion and connection and as a powerful way to create community, forge friendships, and make a family.

Hannah Howard is a writer and food expert who spent her formative years in New York eating, drinking, serving, bartending, cooking on hot lines, and flipping giant wheels of cheese in Manhattan institutions such as Picholine and Fairway Market. She has a BA from Columbia University and an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. The author of Feast: True Love in and out of the Kitchen, Hannah has also been published in New York magazine, Salon, and SELF. She mentors women recovering from eating disorders by helping them build happy, healthy relationships with food and themselves. She lives in New York City. For more information, visit www.hannahhoward.nyc.