The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan

It's 1942 and Audrey is finding it hard to make ends meet since her husband, Matthew, was presumed dead fighting in Germany. With three sons, she spends her days cooking and baking to make enough money to keep their home, Willow Lodge. Her younger sister, Gwendoline, the lady of nearby Fenley Hall (in an unhappy marriage to Sir Strickland), has a frosty relationship with Audrey. When a cooking contest is announced to find a female co-presenter for the radio program The Kitchen Front, both Audrey and Gwendoline decide to enter. In addition, young assistant cook at Fenley Hall, Nell, and pregnant London chef Zelda also are competitors. The Kitchen Front follows the lives of all four contestants through the three rounds of the event as they cook, bond, and support one another. With loads of details and recipes about wartime cooking and rationing, the novel provides lots of interesting information about life at that time. For example, I was not aware that food rationing in Britain continued until 1954!