Reading Discussion Guide #1
Piglet by Lottie Hazell
Today, we’re diving into the symbolism of food, a wedding in limbo, and finding oneself amidst betrayal in Lottie Hazell’s debut novel, Piglet.
I loved this book and found it to be the perfect blend of literary and contemporary fiction where a modern relationship, and the problems within it, are described with delicious and painfully beautiful prose. And while the pace is that of a simmer, I was fully invested in this story and the moral complications it presents. This book has lingered in my brain the past few weeks, to the point where I almost want to re-read in order to fully marinate in my feelings. Everything about it was so up my alley.
Before moving on, this is your sign to turn back now if you don’t want any minor or major spoilers (but save this so you can return to it!). And this discussion is for anyone to enjoy, not just people who have read it (maybe you have no intention to read it but are curious what it’s about!).
Disclaimers:
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Background
In the U.S., as a frontlist title for Henry Holt and Co., an imprint under Macmillan Publishers, this was published on February 27, 2024. In the U.K., it was published on January 25, 2024 by Transworld, a subdivision of Penguin Random House U.K. The U.S. hardcover is 320 pages, or a 7 hour 35 minute audiobook, and I recently read this in April 2024 on audio from my local library via Libby.
Synopses
“Outside of a childhood nickname she can’t shake, Piglet’s rather pleased with how her life’s turned out. An up-and-coming cookbook editor at a London publishing house, she’s got lovely, loyal friends and a handsome fiancé, Kit, whose rarefied family she actually, most of the time, likes, despite their upper-class eccentricities. One of the many, many things Kit loves about Piglet is the delicious, unfathomably elaborate meals she’s always cooking.
But when Kit confesses a horrible betrayal two weeks before they’re set to be married, Piglet finds herself suddenly…hungry. The couple decides to move forward with the wedding as planned, but as it nears and Piglet balances family expectations, pressure at work, and her quest to make the perfect cake, she finds herself increasingly unsettled, behaving in ways even she can’t explain. Torn between a life she’s always wanted and the ravenousness that comes with not getting what she knows she deserves, Piglet is, by the day of her wedding, undone, but also ready to look beyond the lies we sometimes tell ourselves to get by.
A stylish, uncommonly clever novel about the things we want and the things we think we want, Piglet is both an examination of women’s often complicated relationship with food and a celebration of the messes life sometimes makes for us.”
Discussion Guide
The questions from the publisher’s official guide can be found, here.
1. The novel opens with Piglet preparing an elaborate dinner for her friends after just moving into her and Kit’s new house. How does this scene establish Piglet’s relationship to cooking? To Kit? To her friends?
This opening scene allows us to, early on, see how food is used as an extension of Piglet herself—self expression, status quo maintenance, a way to curate others’ perception of her. Food doesn’t just set the precedent for herself, but for her and Kit’s identity as a Couple—hospitable, economically privileged, and enviable as ‘perfect’. This meal is also managing expectations for the roles and dynamics between them when no one’s around (which we see more throughout the novel). Food is the ultimate vehicle to represent Piglet’s life.
2. Early on, we learn that Kit’s family has much more money than Piglet’s. How do these class dynamics shape their relationship? How might the story be different if Piglet’s family was wealthier than Kit’s?
Money is power, so the socioeconomic differences between their families are absolutely an extension of the power between them. As much as Piglet and Kit’s relationship seems to be egalitarian, her excellent cooking is essential to their dynamics, which keeps her trapped in stereotypical ‘traditional’ gender roles, rather than being a power equalizer which is what (I think) she hopes it to be. Kit seems to be laissez-faire and nonchalant when it comes to money, but it’s because he has that sense of security, knowing money is always there to solve any problem.
If roles were reversed, the story wouldn’t have happened. Kit wouldn’t have been able to do, or get away with, ‘What’ he did, because Piglet would be the one with the power.
3. Piglet’s family loves to explain to people the origin of her nickname. What does the nickname mean to Piglet? What does it mean to her family? Why do you think they continue using it into her adult life?
For Piglet, the nickname is a source of fatphobic shame used as another tool to control the narrative of who she is, as defined by others. By begrudgingly and quietly ‘allowing’ others to use that nickname, it shows her lack of self-advocacy and deep sense of insecurity. It felt like ‘yeah, I’m aware of this nickname, I don’t like it, but whatever’.
We know parents rotate the same five stories when reminiscing fondly on the past, so I do wonder if her parents used it when she was growing up to be genuinely nostalgic, without knowing they were also being unintentionally cruel. I go back and forth as to why I think her family still uses it in her adult life: to remind her of where she comes from or as a means of belittlement? There were definitely times the subtext felt possessive like, ‘no matter how posh you become, you’re still our Piglet’. Either way, they’re talking at her not with her. Her parents do seem to be more uncouth Boomers than malicious narcissists.
Side note, I actually think the explanation of her nickname is one of the saddest parts of the novel, especially since I have the POV of being a parent myself.
4. Piglet has a complicated relationship with her sister, Franny. What role does food play in their relationship? How about money?
Food is not focal to Piglet and Franny’s relationship, which is the sign they’re distant from each other. There is an unflinching honesty that exclusively exists between sisters, and without the distraction of food, it allows for moments with Franny to feel more in-touch with reality. For example, when Franny does ask for money from Piglet, it provides moments for Piglet to see the socioeconomic power imbalance between her and Kit. She’s also the ‘broke but happy’ to Piglet’s ‘rich but quietly miserable’.
5. How does Piglet and Margot’s friendship evolve over the course of the story?
Margot serves as Piglet’s foil. She’s grounded, upholds moral consciousness, and is the litmus test of reasonability and boundary maintenance. Their friendship also shows the natural distancing that happens when friends reach different life milestones. She’s been Piglet’s fiercest ally and closest confidant, so the loss of that, mixed with later confrontations, also force Piglet to see beyond the scope of herself.
I think the friendship with Margot is essential for us, the readers, because once Margot has her baby and has to remind Piglet of her new normal, it sends warning signals to us that something is not right with Piglet. I honestly found that one of the most unhinged moments of the book, when Piglet got upset that Margot wouldn’t be at the wedding days after giving birth, even though it was obvious Margot had been dropping hints at the possibility of her missing the wedding.
6. Despite Kit’s betrayal, Piglet plans to go through with their wedding. Why do you think she makes that choice?
It seems that Piglet feels like she doesn’t have a choice—the wedding must go on. People are coming, plans have been made, money was spent. Why disrupt this ‘perfect life’ fantasy? I think she’s also gaslighting herself into thinking her feelings aren’t valid enough to warrant such life-altering changes for herself and those around her.
Also, while food represents Piglet’s attempt at control, the wedding represents what she can’t.
7. Piglet’s life seems to revolve around food, from her quest to bake the perfect wedding cake to her job as a cookbook editor. What do you think is stopping her from pursuing the promotion at work? Why is she so quick to turn down her boss’ offers to help her with her application?
Piglet is risk-averse out of insecurity—she’s used to the safe roles she maintains in all of her relationships and she doesn’t want to be vulnerable. If she peruses a promotion, she could potentially fail and I think Piglet, unironically, does not ‘risk it to get the biscuit’.
Earlier I mentioned how Piglet unknowingly reinforces traditional home roles between her and Kit, and I think passing over the job is a perfect example of her doing so. Also, it’s hard to break out of a depressive (upon learning there was betrayal) self-deprecating box you’ve put yourself in.
8. “Piglet had rules, although she had never made them official by allowing them to be fully formed into thought.” Going to Le Bun to order every burger on the menu broke one of these rules, as it was close to her workplace and she could be recognized. What kind of half-formed rules around eating does it seem like Piglet has? Why is she wary of making them official by thinking harder about them?
I think the half-formed rules are a sad, borderline addictive, self-negotiation/guilt-easing tactic. If she makes the rules official, it’s ‘admitting defeat’ and confirms any negative thing that’s ever been said about her, that she also knows has been said about her. It’s clear the more she indulges, betraying her sense of control, the more she unravels.
9. When Piglet tells her father of Kit’s betrayal, he advises her to stay with Kit and work things out. The next day, however, he gets angry while Piglet is trying on her dress and leads her to believe he will not attend her wedding. Do you think Kit’s betrayal has to do with Piglet’s father’s anger on her wedding day? If not, what do you think inspired it?
No, I don’t think his anger had anything to do with What Kit did. Her dad’s anger stems from both fatphobia and projections of his financial insecurity onto Piglet. I think seeing her not fit into the dress triggers him and is a representation of irresponsibility, laziness, and/or lack of self-control he thinks Piglet has. Their marriage officially brings financial security, why would she want to ruin that? In fact, if he were in Piglet’s shoes, he would have done anything to make sure everything was perfect, especially having the dress fit.
I actually almost wonder if he thinks Piglet is undeserving of the benefits that come with marrying Kit. Regardless, father is envious of Kit and his family, which is why he would ‘get over it’ and thinks Piglet should, too. To him, long-term benefits of being rich outweigh the short-term hiccups.
10. When it comes time for Piglet to assemble the croquembouches on the morning of her wedding, she is on the verge of falling apart. What does the perfection of the croquembouches represent to her? What does it mean when she finally accepts Franny’s unorthodox offer to help her fix them with a glue gun?
The croquembouche directly represents Piglet and Kit’s relationship—if they can fix things and what their marriage/life will look like. It also represents her control, or lack thereof. She has been obsessed with the idea of making the perfect cake by herself, the one part of the wedding she is taking full control and ownership of. Kit’s actions were out of her control, so she spiraled, and the cake, and thereby their marriage, never came to full and proper fruition.
The acceptance of using the glue gun—an impractical and not food-safe method to proverbially, ‘put lipstick on a pig’—is the acceptance and understanding that the relationship is not going to work out. No matter how much she tries, she cannot properly fix the cake, and no matter how hard she tries, she’ll never be able to properly have a fulfilling life with Kit.
On a personal note, as a consumer of TV food shows (where are my Top Chef fans at?!), I did know what a croquembouche was prior to the novel (maybe that isn’t as unique of a fact as I think it is), so I knew once it was mentioned, we were certainly in for a ride.
11. Readers never learn what Kit did to betray Piglet. What do you think it was? How do the differing reactions of different people in Piglet’s life inform your understanding of the betrayal? Why do you think the author chose not to reveal the details of the betrayal?
I loved, and find it brilliant, that we never learn What Kit did. I think it’s so easy for people to get caught up in semantics, which can lead to excuse making/justification, but as readers, we had to strip that all down and see it for what It truly was: betrayal. We couldn’t get distracted by details, but rather, got to focus and hone in on Piglet’s feelings, perceptions, and actions.
IMO, I think Kit had been casually cheating. I know it’s probably the simplest conclusion and most obvious assumption, but if it was financially related his family wouldn’t have stood by him and Piglet’s dad would have been way more reactive (because of course, financial irresponsibility is more detrimental than infidelity 🙄). Also, the only person who wanted her to leave was Margot, who again, serving as Piglet’s foil, is in a happy marriage and knows her worth.
Overall, I thought this book was well-done for a debut and I would absolutely pick up future work from this author. Messy millennial unravellings with beautiful descriptions of food and complicated dynamics in the face of self-advocacy. Yes, chef!
Subjectively, I give this five out of five stars, but objectively, I’d give it four.
If you read it, what did you think? What did you rate it? Are there any details from these questions missed?
Side note, because I want it noted, fuck Kit’s mom!
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