Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger: A Memoir

Written by Lisa Donovan

Narrated by Lisa Donovan

Named a Favorite Book for Southerners in 2020 by Garden & Gun 

"Donovan is such a vivid writer—smart, raunchy, vulnerable and funny— that if her vaunted caramel cakes and sugar pies are half as good as her prose, well, I'd be open to even giving that signature buttermilk whipped cream she tops her desserts with a try.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR

Noted chef and James Beard Award-winning essayist Lisa Donovan helped establish some of the South's most important kitchens, and her pastry work is at the forefront of a resurgence in traditional desserts. Yet Donovan struggled to make a living in an industry where male chefs built successful careers on the stories, recipes, and culinary heritage passed down from generations of female cooks and cooks of color. At one of her career peaks, she made the perfect dessert at a celebration for food-world goddess Diana Kennedy. When Kennedy asked why she had not heard of her, Donovan said she did not know. "I do," Kennedy said, "Stop letting men tell your story."

OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HUNGER is Donovan's searing, beautiful, and searching chronicle of reclaiming her own story and the narrative of the women who came before her. Her family's matriarchs found strength and passion through food, and they inspired Donovan's accomplished career. Donovan's love language is hospitality, and she wants to welcome everyone to the table of good food and fairness.

Donovan herself had been told at every juncture that she wasn't enough: she came from a struggling southern family that felt ashamed of its own mixed race heritage and whose elders diminished their women. She survived abuse and assault as a young mother. But Donovan's salvations were food, self-reliance, and the network of women in food who stood by her.

In the school of the late John Egerton, OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HUNGER is an unforgettable Southern journey of class, gender, and race as told at table.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Audio
• Release date: Aug 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9780593211335

Reviews for Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger

[witchyrichy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A slim volume bought because of the focus on food and cooking. But Lisa Donovan explores so much more from her troubled personal life to the challenge of being a woman in the restaurant business. It is a powerful tale with a few jarring scenes including rape and animal harvesting. She doesn't pull any punches. But, she also brings a joy and hope to her story: she knows she can take what life hands out and has fought hard to be able to call herself, in the acknowledgements, the luckiest woman on earth.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Digital audiobook read by the author
3.5***

Donovan is a chef and award-winning essayist who has worked in a number of celebrated restaurant kitchens throughout the South. This is her memoir.

Her passion and focus has been on desserts but she knows her way around the entire kitchen. Her journey from Army brat to single mother to just-another-restaurant-worker to pastry star is interesting, and she tells her story with insight and honesty. She recalls the hard work and the discouraging way she was treated by men who didn’t value her contributions because she was a woman (and yet, were quick to give credit to their own mothers, grandmothers, and aunts who nurtured their own love of food and cooking). And she relishes in the memories of her successful endeavors and reflects on the lessons learned.

One of the more telling events in her career is outlined on the book jacket: “…she had made the perfect dessert at a celebration for food-world goddess Diana Kennedy. When Kennedy sked why she had not heard of her, Donovan said she did not know. ‘I do,’ Kennedy said. ‘Stop letting men tell your story.’” I’m so glad that she listened to that advice.

Donovan narrates the audio book version herself. I cannot imagine that anyone else could have done a better job.

[seasidereader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lisa Donovan's memoir was a difficult read; her words seethed with anger. SHE seethed with anger., but also summoned tenderness. It is almost cruel that she tempted us with mouth-watering desserts she no longer makes for the public.