This is just a complete joy to read, I loved it! Cecily is such a fantastic character and the book has a comforting, happy feel to it although it did make me cry like a baby at one point. So wonderful to read about a feisty older woman for a change, and I definitely wish her cookery book really did exist, I'd definitely buy it! Reading the notes at the end and finding out that this wonderful character is based on a member of the author's own family was just the icing on the cake, her grandma sounds like quite a woman and the love the author felt for her is obvious and touching. One of my favourite reads so far this year.

I loved this! I didn’t expect to at all, but Kate’s story really spoke to me, and I loved her blossoming relationship with Cecily, which overshadowed her choices with Nick, and how much she grew during the book. Especially loved the author’s back story, and am going to try and dig out the original book - I have a weird urge to make duck lasagne!!

Approaching 40, Kate finds herself back at home with her Mum, no partner and a boring job. She volunteers at a care home and meets feisty Cecily and together they bond over recipes and food.

I enjoyed this and the message that it’s never too ate to change direction in life and to make the most of it!

A great read with coffee and cake.

At long last a book I can relate too! Friendship, fun and food, there’s nothing quite like it. An honest insight into how woman are and how we support each other. Loved it.

Two women, two very different lives. Two different attitudes to life.
Cecily and Kate couldn't be more different but when their lives collide( it's not the most welcoming of meetings) they both find meaning to their existence.
Cecily Finn, was based on the author's relative, and I think it allowed a much in depth, believable character. One you love to hate because, despite her lack of sensitivity,she meant well regarding Kate.
On the other hand, Kate was infuriating in another way. At thirty nine, she acted like a love sick teenager. Indecisive, and lacking her true worth, it was only the power of cooking and Cecily harsh words that begins clarity and, in turn, happiness to her life.
Using recipes and food, was a clever use of bonding with the upsurge of interest in baking and cooking thanks to popular TV shows, a ploy which will help to appeal to a wide audience.

I really liked the idea behind this book. Kate suddenly finds herself out of a relationship and as she comes to terms with it, she becomes friends with an older lady. The cookbook was a very entertaining and unusual idea as well.
But somehow it just didn't flow for me in the middle of the book. I persevered and loved the end.

Kate is approaching 40 and in a relationship with Nick which he is struggling to commit to. As a distraction Kate does some voluntary work at a local Residential Home for Elderly Ladies where she meets Cecily. Cecily is in her 90''s and quite disagreeable but they do have a shared interest in food.

A thoroughly enjoyable read!!

A very different ,modern story with an older story linked through it. Good characters,especially fiesty Cecily a complete contrast to indecisive Katie.

At first I found this book quite boring and long winded until I got to chapter 17. Since chapter 17 it start pick up its pace, and then I couldn’t put it down. However would I want to read it again? The answer is no.

Kate Parker is 39 with her 40th Birthday looming, she and her boyfriend are taking a break as he got cold feet about her moving in with him a couple of days after he asked her to move in.

While on this break Kate started to volunteer at Lauderdale House for Exceptional Women. Where she meet 97 year old Cecily.

Cecily is a grumpy old woman who speaks her mind. Kate is asked by the manager at the home if she would visit Cecily every Sunday as she never has any visitors. Kate does all sorts to get Cecily to join in with the other residents, but she wont. She’s too stubborn and would rather stay in her room with its walls covered with shelves upon shelves of books. These books are where Kate and Cecily find their connection. Especially with one cook book in particular.

It turns out that Cecily wrote this book in the 1950’s, and it has a dinner for every occasion. Like: The perfect meal for you and your husband after you return from your honeymoon, how to impress your husbands boss along with a meal for your ex lover. So Kate starts to make some of the recipes, taking some of them in for Cecily, and Cecily starts telling Kate about her past.

As their friendship grows Kate confides in Cecily who has no time for Kate’s boyfriend and keeps trying to put Kate off of him as she says she deserves far better.

The more you get into this book the better it is and if it wasn’t for Cecily and her funny quips I would never have finished this book. However the authors dedication in the back of this book is so heartwarming and a huge tribute to someone who meant a lot to her.

I did end up enjoying this book, but with such a slow and boring start I can only give 3 stars.

This book was a lot of fun. I enjoyed watching. Kate work out what she wanted from life, and build her relationship with Cicely. Kate holds back from life, whereas Cicely threw herself into it. Kate needs to learn to be brave, to live life to the full.

This is a book about relationships, about the difficulties of finding love, about a grumpy old lady, and about food - it's food that really creates a link between Kate and Cicely.

The cast is fab- characters who are extreme, but believable.

The only thing is , I wanted to read "Thought for Food" - and when I read the acknowledgements I discovered it's a real book - but I can't get hold of it. I hope somebody reissues it - I'd love to see it.

Thank you NetGalley, for an advance copy. Much appreciated.

It took me a little while to get into this however it was well worth persevering with. I struggled to understand what Kate saw in Nick however it’s a very perceptive reflection of how your attitude to dating can alter once you hit a certain age and what you would have found unpalatable ten years ago can be more easily overlooked. Cecily was a great character with a polar opposite opinion of Kate’s life, indeed a fabulous reflection on the benefits of old age and wisdom and a ‘life’s too short’ attitude where Kate is concerned. I like books that are very character led and this is a great example of that and manages to be feminist in a very low key way which I liked. The narration of the story was consistently good and very easy to read. I think the ending was well written, I don’t wish to give anything away but the main focus on personal happiness was bang on target. The thing that most blew me away though was the authors note at the end, what a phenomenal tribute.

Charming, funny and uplifting, The Woman Who Wanted More is a wonderful read from a talented writer. It is a celebration of food and female friendship, full of insights about life, the choices we make and the effect those we encounter have on us. Heartbreak is always best remedied with food and with good friends, and this book shows why. It's an empowering reminder that life is full of opportunities, once we are open to them. And that admitting you've failed is "not really failure; it's the first step towards the future".

I highlighted a lot of passages in this book :)

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC.

What a wonderful character Cecily is - you can't beat a feisty old Jewish lady for sorting things out and saying it like it is!!! But then Kate really did need her hand held, so meeting Cecily was a bessing, even if it took her a while to realise it. This is also the best book I have read in terms of relating to a cookery book (of sorts), but doesn't resort to filling pages with recipes. That this story is based in fact makes it even better. A great story and highly recommended.

I absolutely loved this book. We see a pairing together of two women from completely different generations, and watch how their love of food, books and recipes, takes them both on a beautiful journey. I loved Cecily, and pleased to find out there was a real Cecily Finn. I could write so much about this book, but to be honest, it would spoil it for others. Grab a copy, a slice of cake and a coffee, turn off your phone and settle down with this wonderful story.

Firstly I would like to thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for my free ARC 🍋
This was a pleasing book to read. I got the lighthearted heartbreak I was expecting, the story of friendship, and then I was given more - a compassionate story of the life of an elderly care home resident called Cecily which included her life as a cookbook writer. This quickly turned into cooking for healing/finding yourself and the reader is treated to elegant descriptions of cooking and baking and eating🍋
I found our protagonist Kate, to be various things - funny, sad, resigned, exasperating but most of all, human. None of us is perfect or makes "good" choices all of the time but often it is through someone else that we can unexpectedly find a new direction. This book demonstrates this perfectly. One thing to take away from this book would be that friendships are found in often the most unlikely places - never dismiss the things a person can bring to your life because of age, gender, race, job or marital status. Or indeed any other reason 🍋
This is a lovely book to read. It recognises the pressure women feel as they get older, the social norms we project on to each other as if one size fits all, and it recognises that life isn't always charmed. I highly recommend this debut from Vicky Zimmerman 🍋

Thank goodness for Cecily Finn. Just when Kate was beginning to irritate me with her complacency Cecily comes on the scene. I also enjoyed the way the story was entwined with Cecily's book of recipes.

A delightful read which was heightened by the fact that one of the key characters, Cecily Finn was actually based on a real person!

The story follows Kate Parker, a woman in her late 30's who is in a so so relationship, and a so so job, leading a so so life... until her partner realises he's not quite ready for commitment.

This pushes Kate to try a few different things, including moving back in with her mother and volunteering at an old people's home, where she meets Cecily, a bit of a battleaxe, but one with some amazing stories and advice wrapped up in a cookery book.

Through this novel, we learn about Cecily's life before the home, and how her various experiences help to guide Kate, in a rather roundabout way, to a happier, fulfilled life.

I must admit that my mouth watered several times whilst reading this food-fuelled story of friendship!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Zaffre for an ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

An amazing story, heartbreaking and heart lifting at once with a healthy seasoning of humour sprinkled throughout. I devoured this book in less than a day and was still hungry for more! To end the story by reading the authors acknowledgement really was the sweetest icing on the cake.

I loved this book - I have worked in nursing homes with difficult residents and Mrs Finn was the epitamy of some of them. I am also a devoted "foodie" so this book ticked all my boxes and from the beginning I was willing Kate to leave narcissistic Nick.. Well written and a pleasure to read.

Approaching forty, Kate has a geeky self-absorbed boyfriend and an unfulfilling job as a food sales copywriter for a supermarket. She finds herself volunteering at a home for elderly exceptional women. There she meets the prickly Cecily Finn. Slowly they build a relationship built on a shared love of food and writing, and Kate's life changes.

Though not sure about the tragi-romcom thread, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learnt from it.