Finding Freedom

From Erin French,owner and chef of the critically acclaimed The Lost Kitchena TIME world dining destinationa life-affirming memoir about survivalrenewaland finding a community to lift her up Long before The Lost Kitchen became a world dining destination with every seating filled the day the reservation book opens each springErin French was a girl roaming barefoot on a 25-acre farma teenager falling in love with food while working the line at her dadΓÇÖs diner and a young woman finding her calling as a professional chef at her tiny restaurant tucked into a 19th century mill. This singular memoirΓÇöa classic American storyΓÇöinvites readers to Erin’s corner of her beloved Maine to share the real person behind the ΓÇ£girl from FreedomΓÇ¥ fairytaleand the not-so-picture-perfect struggles that have taken every ounce of her strength to overcomeand that make ErinΓÇÖs life triumphant. In Finding FreedomErin opens up to the challengesstumblesand victories that have led her to the exact place she was ever meant to betelling stories of multiple rock-bottomsof darkness and anxietyof survival as a jobless single motherof pills that promised release but delivered addictionof a man who seemed to offer salvation but in the end ripped away her very sense of self. And of the beautiful son who was her guiding light as she slowly rebuilt her personal and culinary life around the solace she found in foodΓÇöas a source of comforta sense of placeas a way of bringing goodness into the world. ErinΓÇÖs experiences with deep loss and abiding hopetold with both honesty and humorwill resonate with women everywhere who are determined to find their voicescreate communitygrow stronger and discover their best-selves despite seemingly impossible odds. Set against the backdrop of rural Maine and its lushly intensebountiful seasonsErin reveals the passion and courage needed to invent oneself anewand the poignanttimeless connections between food and generosityrenewal and freedom.