Lilla Eckford, interned in a Japanese civilian camp in China during the second world war after an extraordinary early life,passed her time by compiling a book about the joys of food.Thisprecious cookery book, now in the possession of the ImperialWarMuseum, inspired Lilla's great-granddaughter, Frances Osborne, to investigate her enthralling story.

Lilla's Feast spans the world from China to India and finally to England over a hundred years, and blends together personal history, world events, period atmosphere and family anecdotes into a brilliantly vibrant and poignant story.

Passionately written and compelling, Frances Osborne's impressive debut is a wonderful read. The extraordinary life of this ordinary woman is a tumultuous feast of the senses -- Santa Montefiore
Lilla's Feast is a wonderful, inspiring book, part page-turner, part history of the British Empire in the Far East, Frances Osborne perfectly captures the stories of a lost generation of women -- Amanda Foreman
Osborne tells the story of her great-granny's life with page-turning brio * Sunday Telegraph *
A wonderfully evocative, vivid, distilled book * Tatler *
Powerfully imagined... Aromas of the spicy dishes Lilla learned to cook during her years in the Far East seem to cling to these pages, infusing the narrative with exoticism * The Times *
A rapturous fusion of personal history and tales of Empire and the Far East * You Magazine *
An intriguing memoir * Woman and Home *
Osborne brings alive the world of her great-grandmother... dazzling and inspiring * USA Today *
A rapturous fusion of personal history and tales of Empire * Mail on Sunday *

Frances Osborne worked as a barrister, a banker and then a journalist before becoming a full-time writer. She lives in London and Cheshire with her husband and two young children.
This is her first book.