11 Food Novels That Will Leave You Hungry

In the third novel of Emile Zola’s 20-volume Les Rougon-Macquart series, a man named Florent, accused of a crime he didn’t commit, escapes to Paris and becomes a fish inspector at the Les Halles market. Food and politics collide in the heart of the market, giving the reader some of the most vivid and delicious descriptions you’ll ever find on the page.

Nino Latino is the nephew of Fra Filippo Lippi, one of the greatest Florentine painters. For Nino, every taste brings a heightened connection to the people and places around him. He rises to culinary acclaim, but it’s the forbidden hand of a woman that threatens to undo him. A novel to relish and devour.

An epic feast of a book, THE FLOUNDER winds the reader from the Stone Age to present day, mixing fantasy and history with dashes of actual recipes here and there. This novel is a long meal, full of the strangest stories, including talking fish and three-breasted women. But in every era and every chapter, there is a woman who is master of both man and kitchen.

Ashley Warlick takes on culinary legend M.F.K. Fisher in THE ARRANGEMENT. This is the story of the end of Fisher’s first marriage and the tangled threads that began her second. Aphrodisiacal descriptions of food, love, and desire abound.

A sinister, clever comedy, featuring the sentimental journey of middle-aged gourmand Tarquin Winot, traveling from Portsmouth to Provence, whilst at the same time revealing his past life in a series of gastronomic vignettes. Tarquin is a marvelous creation: articulate, superbly delusional, and as devoted to French cuisine as he is to murder.

Food is love and power and sex. All of these sensations culminate in the story of Rosa, the victim of a tragic love affair. Lusty and sumptuous, LA CUCINA takes the idea of “food porn” to a new level.

Down-and-out food journalist Bruno Tannenbaum discovers the key to reviving his career: a cork from a “lost” vintage of Nazi wine. What follows is a fun and funny trip through cocktail parties and Bacchanalian banquets, paired with mouthwatering dishes and the perfect wines.

Petronius, the author of the food-filled first novel “The Satyricon,” has been instructed to kill himself by Emperor Nero. THE UNCERTAIN HOUR is the beautiful tale of Petronius’s last, marvelous feast.

A fantastic parody of the Italian food/holiday/romance novels that saturated the market in the 90s and 00s, COOKING WITH FERNET BRANCA feels as wine-soaked as its cover. Hilarious, tipsy, and over-the-top. Cook the recipes, if you dare...

A Venetian street urchin winds up as the apprentice (and accomplice) of the Doge’s chef, who is also the keeper of incredible secrets. Heavenly food descriptions dot the landscape of this enchanting book.

Jean-Marie d’Aumout is desperate to know every flavor of everything in the world. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, THE LAST BANQUET is over-the-top in the best kind of way, full of familiar historical characters, incredible feasts, and flavors—both disgusting and delicious.