Skip to Main Content

About The Book

Perfect for fans of Meg Mason and Sally Hepworth; a powerful and heart-rending story about how food connects us and assumptions divide us – and how true family can come from where you least expect it.

Things are getting slippery for Stella. With her husband away she’s juggling a full-time job, a tricky stepdaughter and a relentless four-year-old – all while trying to find her footing in her spouse’s shiny world. Joining the throng of local mothers, she reluctantly hires an au pair in the hope that it will lighten the load.

Stella’s mother-in-law, Elise, thinks this is a rotten idea. An industrial chemist and staunch feminist, she finds the ethical murkiness surrounding the au pair solution difficult to swallow. But she’s promised her son not to meddle, has her own career battles to slay and ghosts from her past to contend with.

For Ava, life in Sydney as an au pair could help fill the void left by the loss of her mother. With her family recipes in her hand and hope in her heart, she sets off to reinvent herself in a place far away.

Three women, drawn together by impossible circumstances, will discover that the greatest comfort can often be found in the mess.

Praise for A Recipe for Family

‘A powerful and hilarious take on the many hurdles women face and how we can overcome them together. Brimming with heart and deliciously wise, A Recipe for Family made me want to go back for seconds.’
Sally Hepworth, author of The Younger Wife

‘An elegant depiction of three generations of female overwhelm. A Recipe For Family is powerful, slyly funny, and studded with sharp observations about the impossible expectations of contemporary motherhood. The kind of storytelling that elicits affirming nods, snort-laughs, and the occasional tear.’
Holly Wainwright, author of I Give My Marriage a Year

‘Tori Haschka’s A Recipe for Family is an antidote to the rigours of 2020s parenting, filled with solidarity, laugh-out-loud moments, and delectable page-turning tension.’
Victoria Brookman, author of Burnt Out

About The Author

(c) Snippets Photography

Tori Haschka is a Sydney based author, food writer and mum of two. Her articles have featured in Grazia, The Times, the Guardian, Mammamia and the Sydney Morning Herald and her blog eatori.com was ranked by Saveur as one of the five best food and travel blogs in the world. Grace Under Pressure is her first novel.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia (August 3, 2022)
  • Length: 400 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781760857356

Raves and Reviews

‘Utterly hilarious and wonderfully wise, A Recipe for Family is a joyful, modern take on parenthood and the perfect antidote for stressed-out mums everywhere. This weekend, order takeaway, ignore the kids, pop your feet up and dig into this delicious read. You deserve it.’

– Better Reading

‘Haschka’s depiction of contemporary motherhood is startlingly raw and real … Perfect for fans of Marian Keyes, Dolly Alderton or Haschka’s first novel Grace Under Pressure, A Recipe for Family serves up a main course of reality with a side of humour, leaving the reader satiated.’

– Books + Publishing

‘A powerful and hilarious take on the many hurdles women face and how we can overcome them together. Brimming with heart and deliciously wise, A Recipe for Family made me want to go back for seconds.’

– Sally Hepworth, author of The Younger Wife

‘Tori Haschka’s A Recipe for Family is an antidote to the rigours of 2020s parenting, filled with solidarity, laugh-out-loud moments, and delectable page-turning tension.’

– Victoria Brookman, author of Burnt Out

‘An elegant depiction of three generations of female overwhelm. A Recipe For Family is powerful, slyly funny, and studded with sharp observations about the impossible expectations of contemporary motherhood. The kind of storytelling that elicits affirming nods, snort-laughs, and the occasional tear.’

– Holly Wainwright, author of I Give My Marriage a Year

‘A moreish read! Like popping a bag of your favourite salty chips, I couldn’t wait until I could dive back in for more. Tori Haschka has a gift of articulating exactly what working mothers fret about and feel. It’s like she’s crawled inside my head.’

– Dani Venn, Masterchef finalist, TV personality and food writer

‘Like your favourite recipe, this novel is deliciously fun to consume but also filled with nourishing wisdom about surviving the burdens and joys of caring for others. Brimming with humour and compassion for how we all fail daily in ways big and small, this wonderful novel just might help you figure out how not to drown in the deluge.’

– Ceridwen Dovey, author of Life after Truth

‘This book reminds us that a messy kitchen makes a meal to be savoured, and a messy and chaotic life is one with a lot of love in it. Absolutely brillliant!’

– Daisy Turnbull, author of 50 Risks to Take with Your Kids

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images

More books from this author: Tori Haschka