Veganism and vegetarianism are having a bit of a moment right now, so I wanted to highlight my favorite book on the subject: a novel named The Green and the Red, by Armand Chauvel. It's set in small-town France- specifically, Rennes and is about Lea, the owner of a struggling vegetarian restaurant, and Mathieu, the marketing director for the town's pork producer. The pork producer wants to put Lea's restaurant out of business, because it's prime real estate and they have big plans for it.
Lea and Mathieu meet under false pretenses, when he visits her restaurant to scope out the location for a museum his bosses want to start for the business. Although Lea knows something's up with Mathieu, she doesn't suspect how deep his lies go.
My favorite parts of the book were the restaurant and Lea's pet pig, Charlene. (I have a soft spot for animals and small businesses, what can I say?) I also liked the location; it was super interesting reading a book set in France.
I'm giving this four paws up, for Charlene and the restaurant.
A note about our review policies: 1 paw up means it was irredeemably bad and you shouldn't read it. 2 paws up means it wasn't terrible. 3 paws up means it was good. 4 paws up means it was really good.
New, $17.95. Buy it here.