Miss Eliza's English Kitchen: a Novel of Victorian Cookery and Friendship by Annabel Abbs

In her 30's and unmarried, Eliza Acton is focused on having another book of poetry published--but the publishing house wants her to write a cookbook instead. After a downturn in her family's finances, Eliza and her mother begin to run a boardinghouse in the town of Tonbridge, Kent. They hire a 17-year-old local girl named Ann Kirby to help in the kitchen. It turns out that Eliza and Ann make a great team, cooking and creating recipes together. Miss Eliza's English Kitchen recounts the lives and relationship of the two who wrote Modern Cookery, in All Its Branches that was published in 1845. An interesting look at Victorian cooking and women's lives at that time.