“I was eleven years old when I realised what I wanted most out of life: more.” This is how we are introduced to Helen Burns, protagonist in Hungry, the Stars and Everything. As a little girl Helen sneaks downstairs in the middle of the night to eat the bar of dark chocolate, a gift to her father, lying under the Christmas tree. She is fed up of being good and enjoys the bitter taste in her mouth. Seventeen years later she is working as a restaurant critic. During an eleven-course tasting menu in a smart restaurant, all the different flavours and smells take her back to a defining moment in her past.

Apart from food and the sensuous descriptions of eating it, Unsworth’s debut is about love, science and ‘everything else’. Themes are brought together that you would not expect to meet. Although in its heart the book is a love story, it also touches on astronomy, magic realism and psychology. Another remarkable aspect is Helen’s character. She is by no means perfect or balanced: she is addicted to alcohol, tends to make the wrong decisions and is drawn to mischief, even to the devil himself. The humorous and telling descriptions of the people around her show that as a child she was already able to see through their facades. She manipulates them, at only eleven years old. The somewhat sarcastic tone, typical of Northern England, together with everything else immediately whets your appetite, making you want more of this author.

Emma Jane Unsworth, Hungry The Stars and Everything. Manchester: Hidden Gem Press, 2011.