234(Ht mm) 153(Wdt mm) 400

A dark comedy set in the fiery world of the New York culinary scene, Aftertaste blends a highly original, imaginative concept with an unforgettable and deeply moving story of love and grief

Like the hit show ‘The Bear’ and Aimee Bender’s The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (2011, over 100K copies TCM) Aftertaste explores the ways in which food sustains and connects us physically, emotionally, and generationally – with a dash of Toshikazu Kawaguchi's When the Coffee Gets Cold and a pinch of Asako Yuzuki's Butter International rights to Aftertaste have sold in 12 territories across 10 languages - and the book is currently in development as a major motion picture Daria Lavelle writes fiction, most of which features at least one impossible thing. Her stories have appeared in Dark Matter, The Deadlands and Dread Machine, among others. She holds a BA from Princeton University and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, and enjoys opera, escape rooms, and checking restaurants off her bucket list. She was born in Kyiv before immigrating to the US as a child, and currently lives in New Jersey with her husband, their hyperactive golden doodle, and their three magical children. Aftertaste is her first novel.

‘Practically exploding with love, life and flavour’ LOUISE KENNEDY
‘Bitingly inventive, written with humour and heart’ ELIZABETH DAY
‘A hauntingly evocative journey through the realms of pain, pleasure and the power of food’ NIGELLA LAWSON

A food story to binge. A ghost story to devour. A love story to savour.

When dead-end dishwasher Kostya discovers the ability to summon spirits through the food he cooks, he embarks on a journey to open a New York City restaurant that serves closure – something he’s craved for as long as he can remember.

There are just three problems:

1. Kostya has some ghosts of his own.

2. His advancing menu of spirit cuisine is threatening the stability of the Afterlife itself.

3. He’s falling in love with Maura, a party psychic with her own secret connection to the Afterlife – who also happens to be the one person who knows he must be stopped.

A bittersweet cocktail of humour and heart, Aftertaste is an imaginative odyssey through food and love, life and death: the things that sustain us, connect us, transport us, and remind us who we are.

An unforgettable, imaginative and darkly comic debut novel about food, ghosts and the New York culinary scene Aftertaste is practically exploding with love, life and flavour. I relished every word A wondrous work where the culinary transcends the ordinary. Lavelle's debut of grief, memory and loss is deftly and satisfyingly layered A highly original, entertaining tour-de-force ... It had me in mind of The Ministry of Time, whose readers I think will love this A raucously witty and entertaining novel. This expertly crafted, suspenseful tale is seasoned with a perfectly judged amount of the supernatural. The genuinely heartfelt, touching moments elevate Lavelle’s writing to a level that is nigh on impossible to put down. Meanwhile, the lavish culinary descriptions are a real danger – do not read on an empty stomach! Brilliantly constructed and wholly original, Aftertaste is like no novel you’ve ever tried before. It’s much more than your usual dish – it’s a whole literary tasting menu. Packed with ghosts, romance, fine dining and the mob, it will leave you stunned, thrilled and totally satiated A hauntingly evocative journey through the realms of pain, pleasure and the power of food [A] much anticipated darkly comic debut ... about food, ghosts and the New York culinary scene A decadent debut that marks the arrival of a sparkling new voice. Dark and delicious, sincerely moving and at times laugh out loud funny, a heady, bittersweet, beautiful novel about life and death, grief and closure, passion and hunger. A must-read A breathtaking novel. Combining the grit of the restaurant world with the magic of the afterlife, Daria Lavelle perfectly blends unexpected ingredients into a book you’ll want to savour. It's a story about grief that's filled with humour, warmth and astounding creativity This is a terrific book. Aftertaste offers the glories of food and cooking – all the yes-chef details we now love – in a cool, brilliant and suspenseful novel whose spec-fic plot wants to talk about the mysteries of sense-memory and death. I could not put it down Deliciously evocative, bitingly inventive, written with humour and heart