“There’s no single secret ingredient in life, we each have our own one and it’s up to us to sprinkle it wherever we can.”

The Secret Ingredient is the first novel by British author Sue Heath. Three years after the death of Eddie, the love of her life, Kate Shaw quits her teaching position at the local high school to say goodbye to the past and start anew. Eddie had been retraining as a chef, and wonderful things would come out of the kitchen she now avoids.

Her restart takes her back into the kitchen, which looks like a disaster area by the time the elderly gentleman from up the road comes to the door hoping for tea and scones at the best ever tearoom. Kate wonders if Charles is just confused, or has dementia, but when he offers his wife Mary’s expert supervision for baking, Kate can’t refuse: she needs all the help she can get.

When her husband Justin left her for his best friend, Mick, it was Della’s dog Skip and her gardening consoling her. The young widow across the road offers to distract her new pup, Clint while she restores the flowerbed he’s destroyed and, over bacon butties, their chat includes Charles, the tearoom, scones and the liver treats Eddie had made Della’s first dog.

It’s not common knowledge that a nasty virus left celebrity chef Jack Shepley waiting in vain for his sense of taste and smell to return: how well can a chef do his job without? Despite harsh public criticism, he closes his restaurant and rents a house up the road from the little group that is privately and informally reviving Auntie Flo’s Tearoom. Jack is now intent on making a career in photography.

His first few encounters with Kate consist of scowls and irritation; only later do they begin to understand each other’s situation s and challenges. Jack doesn’t need a relationship, and Kate is still grieving. But fate has other ideas.

Della’s attempt at digging a vegetable patch brings David from No 3, divorced father of two grown daughters and a cat, to her aid, and she finds herself accepting, and looking forward to, rambles with a man very different from her ex-husband.

This is a sweet, feel-good story that brings together people dealing with heartbreak, grief and guilt, people with secrets and regrets, who have been dealt a blow to their confidence. And it’s food, recipes from Kate’s late gran, from Mary, from Eddie, from Jack, that does the mending. Lots of those recipes are included.

Heath gives her characters some wise words and insightful observations: “Adventurous isn’t about where you go. Sometimes the bravest thing is to stay where you are. Sometimes people are just running away, hoping a new buzz can replace the things they’re scared of” and “was it always good to be strong, to pretend to be strong even when you weren’t? Maybe sometimes it was better, braver, to admit you were frightened, ask for help” are examples.


She touches of a variety of topics: marriage breakdown, death and dying, motherhood, and anorexia. The story moves at a very gentle pace and some aspects do stretch the credibility; the romances are extra sweet and fairly predictable. Quite enjoyable.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Harper Collins UK One More Chapter.