In the Kitchen

This book is a slice of modern London life, and not the phony version of sitcoms where everyone lives in a loft and has lots of time with their friends, but real London. Monica Ali writes about a white guy from the North of England who is in charge of a multi-ethnic, multi-racial kitchen crew. He is also talking to financial backers who will go on to be partners in a new trendy restaurant he wants to open. He works long shifts and is trying to set up a very complex business venture. He is under a lot of stress, and it starts to show.
He starts to lose it - just a little bit. Strange things start to happen around him and he has to work out if he really understands what is going on. Could some of the strange events be imaginary. Is there some kind of conspiracy taking place around him, or is his precarious mental state making connections that just are not there?
Monica Ali has set her novel in what might seem the most ordinary of surroundings, but it turns out that a hotel kitchen and London venture capatalists can rival the United Nations and international diplomats for intrigue and uncertainty.
Highly recommended.