APPETITE: A STORY OF FAMILY AND FOOD
Ed Balls was just three weeks old when he tried his first meal: pureed roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. While perhaps ill-advised by modern weaning standards, it seemed to work for him in 1967, and from that moment on he was hooked on food.
Appetite is a memoir with a twist: part autobiography, part cookbook, each chapter is a recipe that tells a story. Ed's story is universal. Taught to cook by his mother, he’s now passing these recipes on to his own children as they start to fly the nest. Sitting round the table year after year, the world around us may change, but great recipes last a lifetime. Appetite is a celebration of love, family, and really good food.
Ed chats all things Appetite with Lara and Liv on the Spectator’s Table Talk podcast which is available to listen to here, and you can read more about Appetite in this article from the Guardian.
“It is a book that shouldn't really work, and yet does, quite charmingly so. [...] What I really like about this book (apart from an intriguing recipe for pulled pork) is that it isn't yet another weighty ideological tome or political diary, it is an honest account of what it feels like to run a home and raise your children while pursuing a high-profile career, written from the perspective of a man. There is guilt, there is worry, but there is a lot of love. Whether it's the book of his favourite recipes he gives to each of his children on their 18th birthday or the time he spends teaching his father to make a cheese souffle, he demonstrates that food is a way of showing he cares.”
The Sunday Times
“Ed is tremendous and I love his cake. This is a brilliant book.”
Claudia Winkleman
“A big, joyous hug of a book - like drinking a pint of the best word-custard. Every reader will immediately put "Have a chatty lunch with Ed Balls" on their bucket list. It's so lovely to be able to point at an author and exclaim, "This is clearly just a very lovely man.”
Caitlin Moran
“Just wonderful. This is food writing as it should be: a triumphant mix of childhood memories, family feasts, political machinations and always good food.”
Stephen Fry
“To be a really good cook you have to be passionate about really good food. Ed is such a person and in this delightfully different book the passion shines through.”
Delia Smith
“A memoir like no other.”
Daily Mail
“Whatever your political persuasion, this is a delicious treat of a book. Balls is immensely likeable - and so is his cooking. Recipes such as his mum's lasagne, and apple and blackberry crumble aren't fancy or fiddly but they're a glorious celebration of family food at its finest.”
Daily Express
“An entertaining memoir... The British political food book is not a crowded field, but it's fertile ground. Balls knows his onions.”
The Guardian
Speaking Out: Lessons in Life and Politics
Being present at your own funeral isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
A life in and out of politics - from the despatch box to the stage on Strictly - by one of Britain's most influential and well-loved political figures.
On the night of 7 May 2015, Ed Balls thought there was a chance he would wake up the next morning as the new Chancellor of the Exchequer. Instead, he woke up without a job.
Twenty-one years earlier he had left a promising career in journalism to work for Labour in opposition. Moving through the ranks, from adviser to Cabinet minister and on to Shadow Chancellor, he occupied a central and influential position in and out of power during a pivotal period in British history.
Speaking Out is a record of a life in politics, but also much more. It is about how power can be used for good, and the lessons to be learned when things go wrong. It is about the mechanics of Westminster, and of government. It is about facing up to your fears and misgivings, and tackling your limitations - on stages public and private. It is about the mistakes made, change delivered and personalities encountered over the course of two decades at the frontline of British politics. It is a unique window into a rarely seen world.
Most importantly, it sets out what politics is about, and why it matters.
"An easy-going, sharp-eyed guide to the world of politics: its madnesses, its triumphs, its disappointments. A book which is insightful, funny and, at key moments, unexpectedly moving."
Jonathan Freedland
"Witty, reflective and engaging Ed Balls peels back the politicians' thick skin (and smashes their protective shell) to reveal that underneath lie real-life human beings."
Nick Robinson
"If you want to know why people go into politics and, despite all the ups and downs, do everything to stay there, I’d recommend Ed Balls' honest and revealing autobiography."
Michael Palin
"Speaking Out is an enjoyable read... the essays stand alone as little gems of insight and reflection. The book illuminates someone who makes generous and nuanced judgements of foes as well as friends and tries hard to understand the motives of people who have crossed him. Passionate and telling... Balls is very clear that his defeat in his constituency in 2015 was a prelude to a funeral and a life outside politics. I suspect that the funeral was a prelude to a resurrection. This book will help him rise from the dead."
Vince Cable, New Statesman
"Intriguing... compelling and affecting... has the poignant ring of truth."
Rafael Behr, Guardian
"In a year rich in political memoirs, Speaking Out by Ed Balls is my pick of the bunch, full of anecdote, insight and authenticity’"
Matthew d’Ancona, Evening Standard, BOOKS OF THE YEAR
"Self-deprecating . . . often poignant."
Sunday Times Culture Magazine, BOOKS OF THE YEAR
"An engaging, highly readable and on occasion moving portrayal of life in the Westminster madhouse."
The i, BEST POLITICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR
"[U]nusually expansive on the emotional aspects of politicians’ relationship with the voters, it feels somehow timely."
Guardian, BOOKS OF THE YEAR
"A Christmas cracker of a book"
Tablet, BOOKS OF THE YEAR
JOURNALISM
Ed writes regularly for a number of publications - here is a selection of recent articles.
POLITICS & ECONOMICS
CULTURE
FOOD & DRINK
SPORT
