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Aftertaste

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Aftertaste

By: Daria Lavelle
Narrated by: André Santana, Ari Fliakos, Kristen Sieh, Tessa Albertson
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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle, read by Ari Fliakos, Tessa Albertson, André Santana, and Kristen Sieh.

‘Practically exploding with love, life and flavour’ LOUISE KENNEDY
‘Bitingly inventive, written with humour and heart’ ELIZABETH DAY
‘A hauntingly evocative journey through the realms of pain, pleasure and the power of food’ NIGELLA LAWSON

A food story to binge. A ghost story to devour. A love story to savour.

When dead-end dishwasher Kostya discovers the ability to summon spirits through the food he cooks, he embarks on a journey to open a New York City restaurant that serves closure – something he’s craved for as long as he can remember.

There are just three problems:

1. Kostya has some ghosts of his own.

2. His advancing menu of spirit cuisine is threatening the stability of the Afterlife itself.

3. He’s falling in love with Maura, a party psychic with her own secret connection to the Afterlife – who also happens to be the one person who knows he must be stopped.

A bittersweet cocktail of humour and heart, Aftertaste is an imaginative odyssey through food and love, life and death: the things that sustain us, connect us, transport us, and remind us who we are.

©2025 Daria Lavelle (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

Aftertaste is practically exploding with love, life and flavour. I relished every word (Louise Kennedy, author of TRESPASSES)
A wondrous work where the culinary transcends the ordinary. Lavelle's debut of grief, memory and loss is deftly and satisfyingly layered (Kevin Jared Hosein, author of HUNGRY GHOSTS)
A raucously witty and entertaining novel. This expertly crafted, suspenseful tale is seasoned with a perfectly judged amount of the supernatural. The genuinely heartfelt, touching moments elevate Lavelle’s writing to a level that is nigh on impossible to put down. Meanwhile, the lavish culinary descriptions are a real danger – do not read on an empty stomach! (Leo Vardiashvili, author of HARD BY A GREAT FOREST)
Brilliantly constructed and wholly original, Aftertaste is like no novel you’ve ever tried before. It’s much more than your usual dish – it’s a whole literary tasting menu. Packed with ghosts, romance, fine dining and the mob, it will leave you stunned, thrilled and totally satiated (Julia Phillips, author of BEAR)
A hauntingly evocative journey through the realms of pain, pleasure and the power of food (Nigella Lawson)
A decadent debut that marks the arrival of a sparkling new voice. Dark and delicious, sincerely moving and at times laugh out loud funny, a heady, bittersweet, beautiful novel about life and death, grief and closure, passion and hunger. A must-read (Rachel Harrison, author of SO THIRSTY and BLACK SHEEP)
A breathtaking novel. Combining the grit of the restaurant world with the magic of the afterlife, Daria Lavelle perfectly blends unexpected ingredients into a book you’ll want to savour. It's a story about grief that's filled with humour, warmth and astounding creativity (Laura Hankin, author of ONE-STAR ROMANCE and THE DAYDREAMS)
This is a terrific book. Aftertaste offers the glories of food and cooking – all the yes-chef details we now love – in a cool, brilliant and suspenseful novel whose spec-fic plot wants to talk about the mysteries of sense-memory and death. I could not put it down (Joan Silber, author of SECRETS OF HAPPINESS AND IMPROVEMENT)
Deliciously evocative, bitingly inventive, written with humour and heart (Elizabeth Day, author of THE PARTY and MAGPIE)
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