Novel about cannibal wife who cooks and eats her husband set to be hit of 2014 (and even ex-husband of author loves it)



In Natalie Young's novel, released next month, middle-aged Lizzie , bor ed with her marria ge, decides to kill and eat her husba nd

Season To Taste set to be one of the most talked-about books of the year

Ms Young, who recently went through a divorce, says her ex-husband has been supportive of her second published book



After a drawn-out divorce, most women could be forgiven for not feeling entirely charitable towards their ex.

But one author channelled her feelings about the end of her own marriage into a slightly more extreme form of therapy – writing the story of a woman who decides to kill and eat her husband.

Natalie Young penned Season To Taste after being inspired by the break-up of her ten-year marriage to Peter, the father of her two children.

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Natalie Young's new book, Season To Taste, tells the story of a middle-aged woman who decides to cut up and eat her husband of 30 years. It is set to be one of the most controversial talked about books of 2014

The macabre novel tells the story of fiftysomething Lizzie, who decides to kill her husband Jacob after 30 years of marriage.

To save wasting the body, Lizzie also decides to cut it up into 16 pieces – each of which gets bagged, labelled and stored in the freezer before being cooked and eaten.

Miss Young, 37, confirmed that the novel drew on her own experiences, although she took care to point out that she never actually considered eating her ex.

She told the Mail: ‘With two children to raise on your own it is unbelievably difficult. You have to deal with the guilt and explain why you left daddy.

The novel, Ms Young's second, is published by Tinder Press, part of Hodder, and is released next month

‘This book was a way of unconsciously depicting an extreme aspect of that very traumatic experience. It was a way of exploring the extreme repercussion of separation and divorce.’

She added: ‘It is all too easy to break up without grieving, and this was about the grieving process that occurs when a marriage breaks up – an artistic experience of cannibalism.’

While it may not seem like the most humorous of tales, she revealed that, astonishingly, her ex-husband managed to see the funny side of the situation.

Miss Young said: ‘Obviously he sees that it came out of our experience. But he thinks that it is really funny.’

Perhaps unsurprisingly, her darkly humorous interpretation of a marriage break-up has received mixed reviews from her close group of friends. The former magazine editor said most of her male friends were horrified by the concept.

However, she was encouraged by the fact that the majority of her female friends were hugely supportive, with some even giving her a round of applause when she first revealed the idea.

‘People love it because it is so real,’ she said. ‘They are reading something utterly disgusting but it is a very human story.

‘It is very Waitrose, there’s lots of olive oil and salt, she’s got clean tea towels, and it cuts through into our escapist fantasies. It is not a bloodbath, it is an emotional and artistic exploration of someone’s marriage.’

While filled with black humour, Miss Young stressed that the novel – which is due to be published next month – still has a serious point to make.

She said: ‘So many women are trapped in relationships. I do believe women give more to a relationship than men do. It is in our nature to be incredibly giving once you have children.

‘Women in relationships are so often trying to please men and we allow ourselves to be exploited and devoured. Killing and then eating or devouring can be revenge.’



