Music, Food and Love

Music, Food and Love, A Memoir, by Guo Yue and Clare Farrow, published by Portrait, an imprint of Piatkus Books, £14.99 hardback with b/w photos and illustrations by Chinese artist Qu Lei Lei, 26th January 2006. (available to pre-order)

Music, Food and Love tells the story of the Chinese Cultural Revolution through the eyes of a musical child. Guo Yue, a bamboo flutes player and the youngest son of a traditional violinist, grew up in the poor and overcrowded courtyards and alleys of north-east Beijing in the 1960s. He had very little education, but an instinctive love of music, nature and cooking enabled him to find a means of self-expression at a time when freedom and individuality were suppressed by the policies of Mao Zedong.

In this unique memoir, Guo Yue evokes the colours, smells, tastes and sounds of a world that no longer exists. Whether he is describing the mounds of tomatoes and aubergines arranged like treasure on the earth outside the nearby grocery shop, the sensation of flying a hand-made white paper kite high above the river, or his sisters singing traditional love-songs and twirling like ballet dancers as they cook for the family, his prose is unique, musical and poignant. Among the most moving passages are those written about his mother, from whom he was
separated during the Revolution.

The character of Yues mother, Zhao Su Lin, is central to the memoir. She was an educated woman from Harbin, in the northernmost province of China which borders Russia, and her stories of the White Russians in Harbin, her love of Russian literature, Chinese philosophy, and the poetry of the Tang and Song dynasties, which she communicated to her children, filled Yues imagination as a small child. His own world reached no further than the river near his courtyard home and the traditional shops around the beautiful old Drum and Bell Towers. When she was sent to the countryside to be re-educated, he turned to music and nature for comfort. Even now, nature provides one of the main sources of inspiration for his music, which is often compared to the art of Chinese brush painting.

More than 30 traditional Chinese recipes bring the images of Music, Food and Love to life. These dishes are based on a simple collection of ingredients - like the notes on a bamboo flute - and a natural approach to taste, colour and texture. Yues unique, musical approach to cooking has proved highly successful in his classes at the Divertimenti Cookery School in London.

Xinran: Reading this book, I could taste the love in Chinese melody and hear the music in Chinese taste. Peter Gabriel: I have never read such a vivid account of what it is like to have grown up during the Cultural Revolution in China, especially for a young artist... I have heard Guo Yue play his music, I have eaten his food, and can guarantee he delivers in a magical way. Guo Yues cooking is like his music: fresh, delightful and unexpected... Camilla Schneidemann, Divertimenti Cookery School, London

Music, Food and Love is also the title of Guo Yues new solo CD, which will be released in February 2006 by Real World Records. Inspired by the characters, colours, images and sounds of his childhood, Guo Yues music is the perfect complement to the book. Featuring a combination of traditional Chinese instruments with exhilirating percussion and Western strings, together with the soaring beauty of Yues many bamboo flutes, it is an unforgettable album. Available to pre-order from Real World Records: www.realworldrecords.com/guoyue