Review of her 'memoir about cake and death'
A comedian writing about cake might sound twee, or evoke the sort of defiant hedonism that defines much of Jo Brand’s work. More directly, the subtitle of Katy Wix’s first non-fiction book echoes one of Eddie Izzard’s more famously meandering flights of fancy.
But Delicacy: A Memoir About Cake And Death is a much more profound, complex and tragic book than any of those instant associations could prepare you for. Cakes, to her, are ‘weird, camp objects that seem to appear whenever something emotionally devastating is happening’, sugary totems for her misery.