I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but Breadsong sounded too good to pass up and I'm so pleased I had the opportunity to read it - once I'd started, I couldn't stop! This warm, heartfelt memoir drew me in from beginning to end.

Breadsong follows a father and daughter whose lives were turned upside down my depression and anxiety, and who came out the other side thanks to understanding family, an amazing community and, of course, a lot of bread.

The memoir section switches between Kitty and Al throughout, giving an interesting and emotional insight into the events from both sides. I learnt so much about bread, but I also laughed at the culinary craziness and adored the wonderful family who fill this book.

The recipe section at the back covers everything from novice bakes to tricky sourdough. I'm really looking forward to trying them out when I get the chance. Especially after checking the Orange Bakery out on Instagram and seeing how delicious everything looks. There's something amazing about reading the stories behind recipes and how they were chosen which makes them even more exciting.

Astonishing, heartwarming, immensely readable and some fabulous sounding recipes! The Comfort is at the top of my list.

With thanks to the authors, the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

A beautiful read with wonderful recipes I can't wait to try. Kitty and Al's story is incredible and emotional.
A real treasure, the perfect gift for friends and baking fans.
5 stars.

I was drawn to this book for two reasons, I am a parent of children in the same age group as Kitty and I have turned to baking and bread making over the years, in times of anxiety. I expected this to be interesting but it was so much more. What a gorgeous affirming, heartwarming book this is. Really beautifully written and I am looking forward to trying many of the recipes.

I had to read this through the app though as wouldn't open on Kindle. This could have put me off but is testament to how readable this book is. I need an actual copy of it so I can try the recipes and it's one I will be encouraging my own children to read and use. So much to learn from here in both the kitchen and the heart and mind.

Wishing Kitty and her family all the very best and thank you for writing and sharing your story and recipes.

Breadsong is as much a book about mental health as it is a book about baking. I wish that I was a bit more adept in the kitchen because some of the recipes sound wonderful. It is a very thought provoking read.

An unusual book about how baking changed the world for teenage Kitty, helping her through depression. A hobby turns into a business and we get an insight into their new life. Some lovely recipes too. A must for all bread lovers.

What a wonderful book two sides of the story, Kitty with her anxiety and her dad helping her. Could not put it down. The only downside is that I don't live near so I could taste the baking but with recipe's in the second half of the book I will try to bake some.
I received this book from Bloomsbury and Netgalley for a review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Kitty and Al Tait for the chance to read this book.

I too realised that I could not read this on my kindle but managed to read it through the App.

I was really unsure about reading a recipe book that was also a biography - or is it a biography that's a recipe book?

As a parent with a child with anxiety issues that manifested mainly during her Masters degree I could emphasise with the parental viewpoint - it was enlightening to read about depression and anxiety from the other viewpoint.
It also caused me to question myself and how I dealt with the issues we faced.

But it was a heartwarming tale - with really interesting insight into the bread making process - and how to become entrepreneurs and take a small scale kitchen business into a commercial enterprise - albeit a small one.
Well written, witty and engaging

The recipes are lovely - as with all recipes as long as the basics are followed then things like sweetness can be adjusted according to taste. I am sure that we will be trying a few of them.

So much so that I am sure a hard copy will soon be winging its way to us.

I wish Kitty and her family every success in the future wherever it takes them

A thoroughly enjoyable and uplifting story of 14 year old Kitty, her depression and anxieties, her loving family.......and bread. I love all the yummy bread recipes too. Many thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for and arc of this book.

If you didn't notice by the five stars I loved this book. I have been obsessed with bread baking at times on and off over the years so this was bound to catch my eye. Part memoir, part cookbook and part ode to baking.
At first glance this seems like a sentimental account of a young woman suffering from depression and anxiety but then she starts baking and it gets truly interesting. It is also an account of a passion evolving into a small business in the most organic way from giving away loaves to their neighbours, to a bicycle delivery service, to pop-up shops and finally into a booming permanent shop and bakery. It is also an ode to village life, where there is a local community and people know and help their neighbours in more than the cursory urban way.

It was wonderful to read about the generosity of the other artisan bakers both with their time, energy and with their old equipment. It is a book which gives hope as to the community of other bakers and on a more local level, the village where the orange bakery lives.

The recipes also look great including the stretch and fold technique I have been using for my sourdough for a long time now. The only downside is that as we have given up having any sugar in the house many of the tasty treats are off limits but the Fika buns look amazing.

What I liked:
Story of hope without being mushy
The wonderful line illustrations
Innovative sourdough starter recipe

What didnt work for me:
The ARC wasn’t available on my kindle so I had to read it on my laptop, but it was worth it.
Many of the recipes are very sugary

The premise of this book sounding really interesting. How a teen girl suffering from depression and anxiety found salvation through bread. It is a lovely book and I really enjoyed the way that it is set out. Starting off with her father Al's perspective and then switching to Kitty's.

Plus there are many recipes at the back too. Had me salivating and craving sourdough!

I really enjoyed reading this book. I think the format was great as well. It was good to hear the story behind the orange bakery. Kitty and her family are inspiring and I read the book in 2 sittings. The recipes look great too. I read the book on my tablet but think that Hardback would be a welcome addition to anyone's collection.
Thanks to net galley for this free read.

An overwhelmingly touching, inspirational and inspiring book that takes you along through painful times as Kitty starts to overcome her anxieties through the power of family love and baking, and Kitty's family do everything they can to support her, with surprising changes for them all.

A book that's hard to read because of the honesty and the struggles that are so well described here, it's as full of love and recipes and inspiration that a book could be - I can't wait to have my own hard copy and try out some of the beautifully photographed and laid out recipes.

As a Watlington resident, I can also say that Kitty and Al's shop is a treasure and the bakes are even better than they look - looking forward to the next chapters in the story from this inspiring family.

This is just a beautiful book. Kitty's voice is warm, clever, funny (so, so funny) and the love and tenderness between father and daughter is very moving. It is an everything book dressed up as a cookbook - rags to riches in terms of Kitty and Al and their family's struggle with her depression and how they got through it together; a quest story about discovering something you want and going after it (gently); and a family story of unconditional love and understanding. And - a book about baking. I'll never want raisins in soft iced buns no matter how well they are soaked, but the feeling of discovery you get as a baker who's not very sure what they're doing is pure gold. I love the recipes.

Such a great book. Very much looking forward to it in paperback to give to lots of friends and family as a present (£20 too steep for the number of people I want to give this book to., but also absolutely worth it if I had the funds). Just a beautiful, optimistic, tender book.

This book has made me appreciate my own parenting journey with a neuro diverse child and has fed my love of bread. I greedily read this in one sitting. I now want my own sourdough starter!

Wow, how I lovvvved this book! I enjoy baking the occasional loaf, so I thought it would be quite interesting, but it was so much more! Inspiring, cosy, informative, funny,….it was a candid narrative of Kitty and Al’s journey, through good and bad times, to becoming professional bakers in just a couple of years. I’ve flitted from the biography to the recipes, numerous times, and already baked the basic loaf three times with great results! Really wish the pair continued success and really can’t wait to try more recipes! Many thanks to Bloomsbury and Netgalley for the advance e-copy in exchange for this honest review; but I also can’t wait to buy a paper version too, as I feel this will be a regular companion in my kitchen.

This is a review of an unfinished ARC, received through NetGalley. Unfinished because I'm so excited about this book that I know that I need to get it as Hardback. I started with the introduction and fell in love with the Tait family and their story. There is so much love at the heart of this book. The Tait parents are living their lives as best they can and they sound no different from the busy, hectic lifestyle we take as the norm these days. But when their youngest child, Kitty, shows signs of suffering the parents make changes, they make way for a new set of priorities and they take a journey of discovery: of the magic behind the perfect loaf and the magic behind contentment.
The writing style of both Al and Kitty is really engaging. The honesty and openness at the centre engages the heart and soul of the reader. I love them for their courage, their trust and belief. I admit that after reading the first few chapters that I knew that I would need more than the ARC for this book so I skipped to the recipes that start at halfway through the book with a basic no-knead bread recipe. I've made yeast bread before, years ago, but not regularly. I loved the no-faff approach and the accessible way that the recipe is written. A scrappy dough is now waiting to do its Cinderella overnight magic trick and I'm excited for the next steps tomorrow morning.
Looking through the rest of the recipes I'm really impressed at the range of "basic" breads from bagels to soda bread, challah to pitta, and some I'd never even heard of before such as Fatayers and Bialys. There's a whole chapter on Sourdough too. As someone who didn't get into the sourdough craze during lockdown, I will reserve comment on whether this book will prove (see what I did there) to be the final temptation.

Then there's the section on Sweet Doughs - Fika buns, Chelsea Buns, Semlor, doughnuts, Panettone; a section of recipes for Pastries - cheese straws, pains au chocolat, croissants; finishing off with a section of recipes for Cookies and Cakes including Caramelised Banana Bread, Ultimate Brown Butter Choc Chip Cookies as well as several recipes that combine flavours I would never have thought of i.e. chocolate & tahini or miso fudge!!

The hardcopy of this book is going on my bookshelf in the near future, to become dusted in flour and encrusted with dough. And I can't wait!

A beautiful story about a family finding their own way in dealing with mental health, though the discovery of what sparks joy in life. The nurturing craft of baking bread. I love how they took a different approach to the conventional education that’s imposed and shows how this isn’t always the right route to a happy future.
I can’t wait to have a go at baking some of the amazing recipes in the back.

When is a cookbook not a cookbook? When it first starts by telling you a beautiful story of a fight with depression that baking helped to overcome. Breadsong tells the story of Kitty Tait, who was a typical energetic fun loving 14 year old, and her slump into a deep depression and overwhelming pit of anxiety, and how she ended up shrinking back from the world. Her loving parents were supportive and tried to help in every way. But it was her dad Alex, baking a loaf of bread one day, which changed all of their lives. The noise that the crackling of bread crust just out of the oven makes is Kitty’s ‘breadsong’. This one loaf of bread quickly turned into a passion and then an obsession that drove Kitty to become the best breadmaker she could be. She went from making ‘frisbees’ of bread, and refusing to share her attempts with anyone, to baking bread for most of the village. After a runaway success sharing her baked goods, Kitty and her dad took a risk and opened the Orange bakery (with dad even quitting his teaching job to do so!). This bakery is such a success that there are often queues down the street for their baked goods.

This book is such a wonderful read. It shows the deep bond of family, friends and the support of a community, and how much of an impact this can have on a person's life. The village of Watlington comes across as a wonderful place to live, with so many people helping on Kitty’s journey. The book is beautifully and simply written, with some beautiful hand drawn illustrations, and excellent photography. The story is inspiring, and shows how, with the right support you can get through most challenges in life. When you have finished the beautiful story, you then get to the recipes which were chosen to be included. They are wonderfully clearly laid out, with fantastic product photos, excellent and easy to follow instructions, and they all sound amazing. I think this book would make a wonderful gift for anyone in your life who enjoys food, and who has ever struggled with mental health. It is a perfect combination.

*I received this book from NetGalley for review, but all opinions are my own.

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this redemptive tale of a family saved by baking! However, I was entirely won over by the warmth and humour of a family whose crisis was a teenager going through a very difficult period of confidence issues. They belong to a small community which rallies round and also enjoy the fresh bread they bake. I was quite jealous actually, as finding a really good baker, who doesn’t charge a fortune, is no small thing. It is challenging for them, but it is an entertaining story of the hoops they jump through to achieve their goals. I loved the quirky stories of what happened on the way, and the recipes were an added bonus, I may even have another crack at baking bread myself. A must buy, and I loved the illustrations too.