From the award-winning, critically acclaimed, and bestselling author of "Brick Lane", comes her long awaited second novel, a stunning story of a man in crisis.
At the once splendid Imperial Hotel restaurant, executive chef Gabriel Lightfoot is trying to run a tight kitchen. But his integrity, to say nothing of his sanity, is under constant challenge from the competing demands of an exuberantly multinational staff, a gimlet-eyed hotel management, and business partners with whom he is secretly planning to open a restaurant of his own. Despite pressures, all his hard work looks set to pay off. Then a porter's dead body is discovered in the kitchen. It's a small death, a lonely death--but it disturbs the tenuous balance of Gabe's life.
Elsewhere, there are already complications: Gabriel's father is dying of cancer, his girlfriend wants more from their relationship, and the restaurant manager appears to be running an illegal business under Gabriel's nose. Enter Lena, an eerily attractive young woman mysteriously tied to the death of the porter. Under her spell, Gabe makes a decision, the consequences of which strip him bare and change the course of the life he knows--and the future he thought he wanted.
At the once splendid Imperial Hotel restaurant, executive chef Gabriel Lightfoot is trying to run a tight kitchen. But his integrity, to say nothing of his sanity, is under constant challenge from the competing demands of an exuberantly multinational staff, a gimlet-eyed hotel management, and business partners with whom he is secretly planning to open a restaurant of his own. Despite pressures, all his hard work looks set to pay off. Then a porter's dead body is discovered in the kitchen. It's a small death, a lonely death--but it disturbs the tenuous balance of Gabe's life.
Elsewhere, there are already complications: Gabriel's father is dying of cancer, his girlfriend wants more from their relationship, and the restaurant manager appears to be running an illegal business under Gabriel's nose. Enter Lena, an eerily attractive young woman mysteriously tied to the death of the porter. Under her spell, Gabe makes a decision, the consequences of which strip him bare and change the course of the life he knows--and the future he thought he wanted.
