How to Eat a Small Country - by Amy Finley (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"How to Eat a Small Country shares a few key traits with Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love in particular an infectiously likeable narrator and mouthwatering descriptions of European food. But Finley's memoir is less precious, more honest, and ultimately more rewarding." -- Boston Globe

A professionally trained cook turned stay-at-home mom, Amy Finley decided on a whim to send in an audition tape for season three of The Next Food Network Star, and the impossible happened: she won. So why did she walk away from it all? A triumphant and endearing tale of family, food, and France, Amy's story is an inspiring read for women everywhere.

While Amy was hoping to bring American families together with her simple Gourmet Next Door recipes, she ended up separating from her French husband, Greg, who didn't want to be married to a celebrity. Amy felt betrayed. She was living a dream--or was she? She was becoming famous, cooking for people out there in TV land, in thirty minutes, on a kitchen set . . . instead of cooking and eating with her own family at home.

In a desperate effort to work things out, Amy makes the controversial decision to leave her budding television career behind and move her family to France, where she and Greg lived after they first met and fell in love. How to Eat a Small Country is Amy's personal story of her rewarding struggle to reunite through the simple, everyday act of cooking and eating together. Meals play a central role in Amy's new life, from meeting the bunny destined to become their classic Burgundian dinner of lapin à la moutarde to dealing with the aftermath of a bouillabaisse binge. And as she, Greg, and their two young children wend their way through rural France, they gradually reweave the fabric of their family.

At times humorous and heart-wrenching, and always captivating and delicious, How to Eat a Small Country chronicles the food-filled journey that one couple takes to stay together.

Review Quotes

"The Food Network's loss is every reader's gain: Amy Finley is a smart, funny writer and a really good traveling companion. Packed into the car with Amy, her husband and two kids, you'll see and taste France in a completely original way. Whether you know the country well or are hoping to discover it, savoring its fare with Amy is a treat."
--Dorie Greenspan, author of Around My French Table

"What comes first--food or family? How to Eat a Small Country is a delicious story by Amy Finley about balancing them both, and ultimately finding happiness in a country where family life still revolves around the dining table."
--David Lebovitz, author of The Sweet Life in Paris

"An unexpected and delightful memoir. How Amy Finley slipped under the wire of Food Network and into our homes is an enduring mystery, and her tale of moving to rural France to preserve her marriage and family is a great read filled with joyous bites."
--Anthony Bourdain

"How to Eat a Small Country shares a few key traits with Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love, in particular an infectiously likeable narrator and mouthwatering descriptions of European food. But Finley's memoir is less precious, more honest, and ultimately more rewarding."
--Boston Globe

About the Author

AMY FINLEY was the winner of the third season of the hit show The Next Food Network Star. After her win, she hosted Food Network's The Gourmet Next Door. A Paris-trained cook and pastry chef, she was a regular contributor to Bon Appétit. She lives in San Diego, California, with her husband and their children.