Finding My Voice - Book Review.

 

Finding My Voice by Nadiya Hussain

'When I cook, it feels like I am performing the most effortless dance'

I really loved this book. I don't generally read memoirs but I decided to read this one because I am doing Book Riot's 2021 read harder challenge  https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2021/  

I needed to read a food memoir by an author of colour and this fit the bill perfectly.

I had heard about Nadiya and how she won The Great British Bake Off in 2015 but I didn't know much else.  I am not a great watcher of TV and I live in my own world of work and reading as much fiction as I can, but I love cooking. When the pandemic hit I started to use the Food Network Channel as background noise when working from home. As the months passed, a couple of programmes and recipes caught my eye. One of these programmes was the Great British Bake Off which I found very intriguing.  I watched a few old episodes from 2015 and I was hooked.  

Nadiya has a very ordinary yet compelling story. I think most people do, but we don't always take the time to reflect on our lives. As a priest, I am always intrigued by people and I am fascinated by the bakers from GBBO, and what previous winners have done with their success. Nadiya seems to have developed a major career with her writing and food shows. I think she has captured the attention of the nation because she is simply an everyday ordinary person and someone we can all relate to. She is the neighbour next door with three kids, a husband, a home and recipes to share.

I really enjoyed reading her memoir. It gives us glimpses into her life and her world of family, food and culture. In it, I could see echoes and similarities to my own life. Growing up in two cultures, marriage, family, work, life, health, loss, ups and downs, but surrounded by love. Of course my own life is very different because I had a lot more freedom to explore and develop my career, including going to University, studying as much as I wanted to and having a fulfilling career outside the home. Life hasn't been easy but I have managed to follow my own desires. Nadiya shows how she had been prevented from doing this mostly because of the fear that other people had for her. The change when it came was actually unstoppable and there are lessons there for all of us, showing us how careful we need to be with the dreams and hopes of others. 

Nadiya's story is one of family, love and culture but also how that can sometimes inadvertently smother or circumvent our desires. We then have to find fulfilment in other ways. Sometimes we can but sometimes we can't.  Nadiya managed to find that fulfilment in her family, kids and in her creativity and she also eventually managed to fulfill her academic aspirations.  She is an incredibly talented author, and self-taught baker and cook with an inspirational story. 

Nadiya's family life and community very much resonated with parts of my own life story, especially growing up with siblings and having a sheltered childhood. When we read her story we are given an opportunity to encounter her life and experience growing up in the Bangladeshi community in Luton, UK.

Community, culture, faith, food are all such a big part of her life. For me the most important aspect about her story is her courage and her thirst for something more, and the way she reached out for that. I have finished reading this and it reminds me not to stop reaching and exploring and to never settle unless I want to. 

Creativity is such a gift. I am so glad that we can read Nadiya's story and be encouraged to explore  how creativity can flourish in our lives. Reading this is better than any self help manual. It is a beautiful call to never stop living and loving.  

Definitely this book is going on my list of exquisite reads for 2021. It was such a pleasure to read this.