Cinnamon and Gunpowder: A Novel

Written by Eli Brown

Narrated by James Langton

Eli Brown's Cinnamon and Gunpowder is a gripping adventure, a seaborne romance, and a twist on the tale of Scheherazade—with the best food ever served aboard a pirate's ship.

The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail.

To appease the red-haired captain, Wedgwood gets cracking with the meager supplies on board. His first triumph at sea is actual bread, made from a sourdough starter that he leavens in a tin under his shirt throughout a roaring battle, as men are cutlassed all around him. Soon he's making tea-smoked eel and brewing pineapple-banana cider.

But Mabbot—who exerts a curious draw on the chef—is under siege. Hunted by a deadly privateer and plagued by a saboteur hidden on her ship, she pushes her crew past exhaustion in her search for the notorious Brass Fox. As Wedgwood begins to sense a method to Mabbot's madness, he must rely on the bizarre crewmembers he once feared: Mr. Apples, the fearsome giant who loves to knit; Feng and Bai, martial arts masters sworn to defend their captain; and Joshua, the deaf cabin boy who becomes the son Wedgwood never had.

Cinnamon and Gunpowder is a swashbuckling epicure's adventure simmered over a surprisingly touching love story—with a dash of the strangest, most delightful cookbook never written. Eli Brown has crafted a uniquely entertaining novel full of adventure: the Scheherazade story turned on its head, at sea, with food.

An NPR Best Book of the Year (2013)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Jun 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781427235206

Eli Brown

Eli Brown lives on an experimental urban farm in Alameda, California. His writing has appeared in The Cortland Review and Homewrecker: An Adultery Reader. His first novel, The Great Days, won the Fabri Literary Prize.

Reviews for Cinnamon and Gunpowder

[Heather Trow · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The story begins by talented chef, Owen Wedgwood (and the narrator of this story), being kidnapped by pirates after they murder his employer. To survive he has to serve the captain one gourmet meal a week with nothing but the scraps he can find on the ship and ingredients he can barter from the band of odd, eccentric people which make up the crew. Throughout the story, as the captain sails them across the globe, Owen  learns her work isn't all murder and piracy.

In theory I should have loved this because it has many factors I enjoy in a story: historical fiction, an adventure plot, a ship/sea setting, a strong female character. But it just didn't quite hit the spot for me. That's not to say I didn't like it, I just didn't love it like I expected. I think it was mostly due to the writing style. It was too simplistic for the heavier themes this story adresses and for that particularly sad ending.

I've rating this three stars for several reasons. I enjoyed Owen's skill in the kitchen. The author must have had to do some thorough research to come up with these believable recipes! I also enjoyed getting to know the crew along with Owen. They were all fascinating, diverse characters I wanted to get to know further. I also appreciated the author not sugar coating the dangers of piracy and the injuries crewman was likely to suffer from in that time.

[golden_lily-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My damn heart is broken near in two. Beautiful, with life and energy and so much food porn, truly an experience that must be passed on. Full review to come.