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On Bread Alone
A braided narrative winding between the streets of Nairobi, sun-spattered Chicago, and the bloody fields of medieval France, On Bread Alone follows three fiercely strong girls whose passion and determination may be the death of them, all the while raising the question: what does it really mean to hunger?
When her mother dies, six-year-old Wanjeri is sent to live with her uncle in of Nairobi where she must fend for herself if she wants to survive.
Ivy-league bound Shauna is determined to make the most of her last summer before college. She’s going to become the very best Shauna that she can be, and she’s not going to let a little thing like an eating disorder get in her way.
Jehanne is only twelve years old when she begins to have visions of saints and angels and her looming destiny to ride into battle and save France. It seems like a luminous fate, but when she is taken captive by the English and stands trial for heresy, she begins to question what is real and what is a lie.
A mysterious narrator watches as these three very different young women struggle against their own private demons of hunger, loneliness, ambition, and despair. But the brutal worlds they live in begin to wear them thin, and the unthinkable happens: their appetites shift. After all, when bread is hard to come by, hunger is our only salvation.
Hungering, more than anything, for a glimmer of hope and redemption, On Bread Alone draws upon universal experiences that span continents and centuries in a breathtaking mosaic of faith, longing, and desperation.
When her mother dies, six-year-old Wanjeri is sent to live with her uncle in of Nairobi where she must fend for herself if she wants to survive.
Ivy-league bound Shauna is determined to make the most of her last summer before college. She’s going to become the very best Shauna that she can be, and she’s not going to let a little thing like an eating disorder get in her way.
Jehanne is only twelve years old when she begins to have visions of saints and angels and her looming destiny to ride into battle and save France. It seems like a luminous fate, but when she is taken captive by the English and stands trial for heresy, she begins to question what is real and what is a lie.
A mysterious narrator watches as these three very different young women struggle against their own private demons of hunger, loneliness, ambition, and despair. But the brutal worlds they live in begin to wear them thin, and the unthinkable happens: their appetites shift. After all, when bread is hard to come by, hunger is our only salvation.
Hungering, more than anything, for a glimmer of hope and redemption, On Bread Alone draws upon universal experiences that span continents and centuries in a breathtaking mosaic of faith, longing, and desperation.
309 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 3, 2022
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9 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 13, 2022
Thank you to the author for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rounded from 2.5 stars.
CONTENT WARNING: mention of death of a parent, eating disorder, violence, drug use, addiction
The synopsis sounded intriguing, but I was curious to read this to find out how these three very different narratives related to each other, when they seemed so different from each other.
Wanjeri is a young girl in Africa who has lost her mother, and is left at the mercy of her uncle in Nairobi, who doesn't seem to have any love to give. She's incredibly lonely, and has no outlet to get the attention and love that she craves.
Shauna is a senior in high school, and is a type-A personality. She's been focused on getting into an Ivy League school for years, and it's now within her reach, and the only thing getting in her way is the escalation of her eating disorder, which has become unmanageable and noticeable to her parents.
Jehanne is a young woman in medieval France, and is known to us today as Joan of Arc. We follow her story as an angel and two saints appear to her and encourage her journey onto the battlefield.
While each of the stories was difficult and uncomfortable to read in its own way, I think I struggled the most with Jehanne's. Although hers was the most intriguing to me, I had the most difficulty with her internal narrative, which was repetitive and often boring, despite how fascinating her external story was. Shauna struck me as self-absorbed and difficult to empathize with, while Wanjeri was so upsetting simply because she was trapped in a situation not of her own making, with no way out.
However, what bothered me most about the book was the religious Catholic overtones that ran throughout the entire book, not simply Jehanne's sections. While this might appeal to someone with Christian or Catholic beliefs, as someone outside of that faith, I found it to be rather off-putting, and I don't think I'm the intended audience. This would be better suited to someone who holds strong Catholic or Christian beliefs, since it plays a major role in the story, even if it isn't made explicitly clear in the summary.
Rounded from 2.5 stars.
CONTENT WARNING: mention of death of a parent, eating disorder, violence, drug use, addiction
The synopsis sounded intriguing, but I was curious to read this to find out how these three very different narratives related to each other, when they seemed so different from each other.
Wanjeri is a young girl in Africa who has lost her mother, and is left at the mercy of her uncle in Nairobi, who doesn't seem to have any love to give. She's incredibly lonely, and has no outlet to get the attention and love that she craves.
Shauna is a senior in high school, and is a type-A personality. She's been focused on getting into an Ivy League school for years, and it's now within her reach, and the only thing getting in her way is the escalation of her eating disorder, which has become unmanageable and noticeable to her parents.
Jehanne is a young woman in medieval France, and is known to us today as Joan of Arc. We follow her story as an angel and two saints appear to her and encourage her journey onto the battlefield.
While each of the stories was difficult and uncomfortable to read in its own way, I think I struggled the most with Jehanne's. Although hers was the most intriguing to me, I had the most difficulty with her internal narrative, which was repetitive and often boring, despite how fascinating her external story was. Shauna struck me as self-absorbed and difficult to empathize with, while Wanjeri was so upsetting simply because she was trapped in a situation not of her own making, with no way out.
However, what bothered me most about the book was the religious Catholic overtones that ran throughout the entire book, not simply Jehanne's sections. While this might appeal to someone with Christian or Catholic beliefs, as someone outside of that faith, I found it to be rather off-putting, and I don't think I'm the intended audience. This would be better suited to someone who holds strong Catholic or Christian beliefs, since it plays a major role in the story, even if it isn't made explicitly clear in the summary.
October 1, 2022
I read an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) of this book. Please note that this review may contain spoilers.
On Bread Alone is a book unlike any I've read before, and when I finished reading it I wanted to pick it up and start it again. Three stories are woven together and feed into each other; the Catholic idea of being watched over by Saints helps tie them together. It's a difficult book to read in some ways (eating disorders and poverty are not the only challenging subjects to make an appearance), but it's also a book that moves the characters in it toward hope. If you've read the author's The Gardener Kings books, be prepared for something very different - both heartbreaking and hopeful. There are some Swahili words peppered throughout.
On Bread Alone is a book unlike any I've read before, and when I finished reading it I wanted to pick it up and start it again. Three stories are woven together and feed into each other; the Catholic idea of being watched over by Saints helps tie them together. It's a difficult book to read in some ways (eating disorders and poverty are not the only challenging subjects to make an appearance), but it's also a book that moves the characters in it toward hope. If you've read the author's The Gardener Kings books, be prepared for something very different - both heartbreaking and hopeful. There are some Swahili words peppered throughout.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2023
I love the intertwined tales, the struggle, losses and victories of the characters. This book brought me joy, and I definitely also shed a few tears. It is beautiful.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews