'A richly researched food history, gentle memoir and left-field recipe book.' i newspaper 'A dazzling, thorny new essay collection.' Samin Nosrat, New York Times 'A beautiful, fascinating read full of surprises - a real pleasure.' Claudia Roden 'Inventive and charming . . . profound and deeply felt.' Buzzfeed Inspired by twenty-six fruits, essayist, poet and pie lady Kate Lebo expertly blends the culinary, medical and personal. A is for Aronia, berry member of the apple family, clothes-stainer, superfruit with reputed healing power. D is for Durian, endowed with a dramatic rind and a shifty odour - peaches, old garlic. M is for Medlar, name-checked by Shakespeare for its crude shape, beloved by gardeners for its flowers. Q is for Quince, which, fresh, gives off the scent of 'roses and citrus and rich women's perfume' but if eaten raw is so astringent it wicks the juice from one's mouth. In this work of unique invention, these and other difficult fruits serve as the centra