Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block

Jesse Q Sutanto

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Book cover for Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block
Book cover for Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block
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Book cover for Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block
Book cover for Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block
Image for variant 9780593953051
Image for variant 9781420533415

Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block

Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block

Jesse Q Sutanto

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Description

A nearly divorced trophy wife enrolls in culinary school to win back her husband, only to find a fresh start in the unlikeliest of places in this new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.

Retirement should mean long-awaited trips to the sapphire waters of Santorini or careening down a sand dune in Dubai. For sixty-three-year-old Mebel, retirement means her husband of more than forty years announcing that he's leaving her for their private chef. Mebel isn't sure who's the bigger loss.

Not to worry, Mebel has the perfect plan: she's going to win back her husband. No one knows what he needs better than her--after all, she's been anticipating his needs their whole marriage. And if he wants a wife who can cook (why else would he leave her for a chef?), she will simply go to cooking school. And where better to learn to cook for your husband than France, the most romantic country in the world?

However, Mebel quickly learns that she has mistakenly enrolled in a culinary school not in glamorous Paris but rather in England--and in some small village outside of Oxford no less. Despite the less-than-warm welcome from her much younger classmates, Mebel manages to befriend Gemma, the breakout star of the program. And this unlikely friendship starts to show Mebel that maybe there's more to her than being the perfect trophy wife...

About the Author

Jesse Q. Sutanto is the award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of the Aunties and Vera Wong series along with several stand-alone thrillers. She grew up shuttling back and forth between Indonesia, Singapore, and Oxford, and considers all three places her home. She has a master's degree from Oxford University and a bachelor's from the University of California, Berkeley. Jesse currently lives in Jakarta with her husband and two young daughters.

Critical Reviews

"Sutanto's (Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man)) heartwarming, feel-good story of a formerly entitled woman who learns she has desires of her own and is more than arm candy is laced with humor and will appeal to readers who enjoy stories of women reinventing themselves."--Library Journal

"Sutanto, who is behind the beloved Vera Wong mystery series, has created another unsinkable and unstintingly funny 60-something female character, and readers should derive much pleasure witnessing Mebel's transformation from castoff wife into Chinese Indonesian Golden Girl. Soufflé lightness, deliciously flavored with feminism."--Kirkus Reviews

"The lessons beyond the kitchen about trust friendship, autonomy, resilience, (a little) revenge, and most importantly, her true self prove that even 'at sixty- three, there is still so much more to life, so many more things to discover.' Let's hope Sutanto brings Mebel back soon."--Booklist

"Sutanto keeps the pages turning with tight plotting and thoroughly enjoyable characters. Readers are in for a treat."--Publishers Weekly

Publishing Information

Publisher: Berkley Books
Pub date: 2026-04-28
Length: 304 pages

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