The Feasting Virgin

Books that feature food, such as food novels and food memoirs, are perennial best-sellers, and even more popular when they contain recipes. THE FEASTING VIRGIN includes thirteen original recipes, which are interwoven into the action of the novel through the main character's cooking lessons with her student. Greek food and culture is popular throughout the United States, as evidenced by the proliferation of Greek restaurants, Greek festivals, the popularization of traditional Greek exports, such as Greek yogurt, feta, olive oil, and gyro, and the success of the culturally accessible films, My Big Fat Greek Wedding (I and II). THE FEASTING VIRGIN highlights the luscious cuisine of Greece, as well as the origins of Greek ingredients and the farmers who produce them. While there is a robust tradition of lesbian genre titles, there are fewer upmarket LGBTQ novels and novels that include magical realism. THE FEASTING VIRGIN breaks ground as the first LGBTQ themed culinary novel with elements of magical realism. Portrayals of lesbian and bisexual relationships have been gaining in popularity in mainstream culture as evidenced by television shows such as Gray's Anatomy, The Fosters, Orange is the New Black, and The Good Fight, as well as films like Carol, and Tammy. Queer female characters are even entering the video gaming world in popular games such as Overwatch. About 10 percent of women (6.1 million) in the United States ages 15-44 have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While there are numerous infertility memoirs, there are few works of fiction that capture the challenging and emotional experience of trying to conceive and maintain pregnancy under difficult circumstances. Through the metaphor of virgin birth, this book gives voice to the raw emotional experience of wanting to conceive even when the odds seem impossible.

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