Good Enough to Eat

by Stacey Ballis

[Leah]

When Melanie Hoffman lost half of her body weight, she thought it would be the start of a brilliant new life. She thought her marriage to her husband Andrew would be better than ever and opening up her own healthy food shop Dining By Design would afford her a nice career. But when her husband leaves her – for a woman fatter than her no less, Melanie doesn’t know what to do with herself. When Melanie realises her business could go under due to lack of funds, she rents out her second bedroom to the enigmatic Nadia. As Melanie’s business begins to take off, she finds herself gradually getting back onto her feet again and even manages to find love with Nate. But can Melanie let go of her fat-girl persona, or will it constantly haunt her new relationships?


A while ago, I bought myself some American Chick Lit novels with an Amazon voucher I had. I wanted to sample some authors I’d never read before, and I got myself a good haul of novels. One author I’d heard good things about was Stacey Ballis, so I took a look at her novels and decided to buy myself Good Enough To Eat. I love a good weight-loss story. I picked it to read on a challenge I’m competing in, and with all my review books for April out of the way, I decided to read Good Enough To Eat as it’s one I’ve been trying to fit in for ages.

Good Enough To Eat is firmly focused on food. The title relates to it, the beautiful cover relates to it and before each chapter begins, Melanie reminisces about certain foods that have impacted her life in some way. And, of course, Melanie runs a healthy eating shop. Food, food, food, food, food! You would think with all the food going on in the novel, everyone would be big fatties, but they’re not. Melanie’s recently lost half her body weight (a whopping 145 pounds – a whole other person, in fact) and although food is hugely tempting to her, she knows it’s better in moderation. I liked how the book didn’t dwell on the break down of Melanie’s marriage, and instead focused on her getting her life back together after the unexpected blimp in the road.

What makes the book so special, though, is the friendships and relationships formed during the course of the novel. There’s Melanie, of course, our main character, whom I really sympathised with and liked. Circling around her she has the best friends ever. There’s Kai, her right-hand-man who’s happily in a relationship with Phillip. There’s Delia, who escaped her abusive husband and is living in a shelter, working part time with Melanie and Kai. Into the mix comes the energetic but hugely mysterious Nadia, who ends up moving in with Melanie. And we also have Nate, who Melanie gets into a relationship with. All of these people are special in their own ways and they make the book truly shine. For the most part, everyone gets on so well together, and I loved the easiness within which they inhibited each other’s lives. It truly brought the novel to life.

Most of the novel is set in Melanie’s store or her apartment, giving the book a rather cozy feel. It definitely felt as if we, the reader, was part of the action. Food truly radiates through the book, and I was mightily impressed with how it was interwoven into the plot. It doesn’t seem forced, and the anecdotes Melanie tells us about at the beginning of each chapter merely enhance the story. It’s easy to understand how Melanie found herself 290lbs and with her health in serious danger, despite the fact we never actually know her at that way, bar for the beginning of chapter anecdotes. We see Melanie struggle at her current weight to maintain it, and it really opened my eyes to the fact that food is definitely an addiction. It’s not an excuse, but food can control you.

The book is told, cleverly, entirely from Melanie’s point of view, which worked beautifully. I found myself fully engaged in the book, and thoroughly ensconced in the lives on Melanie, Kai, Delia, Nadia and Nate. My only complaint is the abruptness of the ending. There I was, happily turning the pages, thinking I still had another 30 pages to go when bam! it ended. I was rather sad. The last 30 pages, in fact, are filled with Melanie’s recipes, which having thought about it, is a masterstroke as Melanie’s food makes up a lot of the novel. I was just surprised at coming to the end, and I wasn’t expecting it. It wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read, but it was definitely a huge comfort read, one where I could lose myself in the pages and really feel the characters and I will definitely be getting Stacey’s other novels, she’s a really good storyteller.