Aftertaste

'Part ghost story, part gastro romance ... and lashings of bittersweet humour' Mail on Sunday<BR>'A fun romp through New York's restaurant scene and the world of the undead' The Sunday Times<BR>'[The] answer to last year's cult hit Butter' The Bookseller <BR><BR>A food story to binge. A ghost story to devour. A love story to savour.<BR><BR>When dead-end dishwasher Kostya discovers the ability to summon spirits through the food he cooks, he embarks on a journey to open a New York City restaurant that serves closure - something he's craved for as long as he can remember. <BR><BR>There are just three problems:<BR><BR>1. Kostya has some ghosts of his own.<BR><BR>2. His advancing menu of spirit cuisine is threatening the stability of the Afterlife itself.<BR><BR>3. He's falling in love with Maura, a party psychic with her own secret connection to the Afterlife - who also happens to be the one person who knows he must be stopped.<BR><BR>A bittersweet cocktail of humour and heart, Aftertaste is an imaginative odyssey through food and love, life and death: the things that sustain us, connect us, transport us, and remind us who we are.<BR><BR>'Practically exploding with love, life and flavour' LOUISE KENNEDY<BR>'Bitingly inventive, written with humour and heart' ELIZABETH DAY<BR>'A hauntingly evocative journey through the realms of pain, pleasure and the power of food' NIGELLA LAWSON

“Dark and delicious, sincerely moving and at times laugh out loud funny, a heady, bittersweet, beautiful novel about life and death, grief and closure, passion and hunger. A must-read.” —RACHEL HARRISON, USA TODAY bestselling author of So Thirsty and Black Sheep<BR> <BR>What if you could have one last meal with someone you’ve loved, someone you’ve lost? Combining the magic of Under the Whispering Door with the high-stakes culinary world of Sweetbitter, Aftertaste is an epic love story, a dark comedy, and a synesthetic adventure through food and grief.<BR><BR>Some hungers never fade.<BR> <BR>When Konstantin Duhovny cooks a dish tied to a memory of someone deceased, he can summon their ghost back for one final meal. But what begins as a thrilling gift quickly spins out of control when Kostya decides to open a restaurant that promises to reunite the Living and the Dead. (It turns out that messing with the afterlife comes at a steep cost.)<BR> <BR>As the boundaries between worlds start to blur, and as Kostya falls in love with a woman with her own secret relationship with the afterlife, he must confront the limits of what can be reclaimed, and what we must let go, in order to move on.<BR> <BR>Deliciously unique and deeply emotional, Aftertaste is an epic love story and a genre-blending adventure through eating, grieving, and the moments that make us feel alive.<BR> <BR>Hungry? Come take your seat at New York City's most unforgettable culinary experience.

Ein besonderer Geschmack. Ein letztes Essen. Eine einmalige Erfahrung. Der Tellerwäscher Kostya kann Verstorbene ins Leben zurückholen. Für ein einziges Mahl. Als er seine besondere Gabe entdeckt, eröffnet er in New York ein eigenes Restaurant, das trauernden Gästen Seelenfrieden verspricht. Etwas, wonach er sich selbst sehnt, seit sein ukrainischer Vater starb. Doch Kostyas Geisterküche bringt die Grenze zum Jenseits ins Wanken. Ausgerechnet seine neue Liebe Maura ist die Einzige, die weiß, dass er aufgehalten werden muss. Denn sie sieht mehr als andere. 'Witzig und ergreifend, überraschend und befriedigend - dieses schöne Buch über den Tod strotzt nur so vor Lebensfreude.' Karen Joy Fowler

'Deliciously evocative, bitingly inventive, written with humour and heart' Elizabeth Day <BR><BR>Kostya is working as a dishwasher when he discovers something extraordinary. The strange tastes that have flooded his mouth without warning since his father's death - aftertastes - are being sent by spirits seeking closure and, through his cooking, Kostya can help them find it.<BR><BR>Maura is a psychic with ghosts of her own. When Kostya enters her booth she immediately understands what he is capable of, and the potential dangers. As Kostya and Maura fall deeply, deliciously in love, what Maura knows is increasingly at odds with what she feels.<BR><BR>As Kostya prepares to open a New York City restaurant with a unique menu and unprecedented clientele, Maura senses a supernatural catastrophe looming that threatens everything.