Book Review: ‘The Marmalade Diaries’ by Ben Aitken

Given that Aitken’s previous books have been mainly focused on travel, it would seem that a Covid lockdown might put a crimp in his style.

Not so.

This book covers the period of national lockdown when Aitken, in his thirties, ended up living with 84-year old widow, Winnie Carter. She needed a helping hand round the house, he needed a cheapish room to rent – but neither of them then needed a period of national shutdown to be announced that threw these unlikely housemates together even more intensely!

I’ll admit that I wasn’t coming to this book cold – I have already read and enjoyed some of Aitken’s previous books and had high hopes for more of his gentle humour and observations on life. In particular, I loved ‘The Gran Tour: Travels with my Elders’ in which he embarked on several coach tours with the older generation – so I hoped ‘The Marmalade Diaries’ would hit similar witty, bittersweet intergenerational material.

The book was everything that I had hoped for and it was an absolute pleasure to immerse myself in the story of Aitken and Carter’s unlikely and slow-developing friendship. In fact, I was so invested in the story that I then had to immediately Google Winnie Carter to check on her since the period covered by the book ended!

As with previous books, Aitken proves a thoughtful and affable guide to his own life. He has a commendable way of throwing himself wholeheartedly into situations that others might not, seemingly without much consideration – a year in Poland in a previous book, for example. He has an eye for interesting details and a real fascination with people who he presents with genuine insight and clarity in his writing.

Here, the star of the show is Winnie Carter – and Aitken’s portrayal of her and their sometimes-rocky relationship is glorious. She is a brilliant food critic, it turns out, and isn’t impressed by Aitken’s culinary efforts – there’s some lovely comments! She has a complete disregard for best before dates on food, a blase attitude to timekeeping and a wicked way with words. While often funny and dwelling on the differences between Ben and Winnie in terms of background, age and life experiences, this is also a picture of a strong and often contradictory woman. Along with the pithy put-downs, she is also dealing with the loss of her husband and caring for a son with cerebral palsy who lives in a residential home near to her. It is this familial context that gives this book true depth and heart.

Indeed, we meet some of Winnie’s extended family (lockdown rules permitting!) and start to understand the dynamics behind this woman in an unlikely house-share in this unprecedented period of history.

This is a charming and funny book about an unusual friendship forged over shared breakfasts – Winnie is absolutely proprietorial over the good marmalade! It’s also a look at lockdown and the effect it had on people’s lives, a journal of domesticity and the small things we came to rely on when the big things (friends, family, social lives, travel, culture) were taken away by Covid.

Thanks to NetGalley for my chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Header photo by Calum Lewis on Unsplash