![]() While Hassan’s father undoubtedly plays an important role in his son’s life, Hassan is strongly influenced by the women around him. Do you see life in the same terms, as a balance sheet of how we act and what we achieve? Do you think her offer to teach Hassan is a true act of kindness, or because she felt she owed the universe a great debt? Or some combination of both?Ĥ. After Hassan’s hands are burned, Madame Mallory, alone in a small chapel, thinks about her life while staring at the chapel’s fresco: “And in the depths of those glinting little eyes she sees the balance sheet of her life, an endless list of credits and debits, of accomplishments and failures, small acts of kindness and real acts of cruelty” (p. How did his stay there influence his later life? Why do you think Abbas eventually decided his family needed to move on?ģ. The Haji family first settles in London before embarking on a whirlwind journey across Europe and eventually settling in Lumière. ![]() Discuss how Hassan’s transformation is different or similar to that of other characters in the book.Ģ. Ultimately, which journey do you feel was more important? To which other characters might the title apply, and in what ways? Even characters like Madame Mallory who never leave home are somehow transformed through the course of the novel. Discuss the title in relation to where Hassan started and where he ends up-in both the geographic and the psychological senses. The title of the novel is The Hundred-Foot Journey. Yet expanding his palate in Lumière is just the beginning of Hassan’s journey for in the hundred-foot distance from his family’s home to Madame Mallory’s restaurant, Hassan finds his destiny.įull of eccentric characters, vivid settings, and delicious meals, The Hundred-Foot Journey recounts the strange and wondrous story of Hassan’s life-from his humble beginnings in the culinary world, fostered on the hectic, curry-scented streets of Mumbai, to his ultimate triumph in the exclusive club of Parisian haute cuisine.ġ. Young Hassan’s mind is opened by Madame Mallory and his encounter with the world of French cuisine. Thus begins their impetuous journey across Europe, starting in London and ending in the remote French village of Lumière, where they happen to settle down opposite the haughty Madame Mallory-a renowned French chef with very specific ideas about taste. But his life is changed forever when a tragedy forces his family to leave their home and the familiar chaos of India in search of a fresh start. Hassan Haji is born in Mumbai and raised among the spices and flavors of his grandmother’s kitchen and his family’s restaurant. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. This reading group guide for The Hundred-Foot Journey includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. A testament to the inevitability of destiny, this is a fable for the ages-charming, endearing, and compulsively readable. The Hundred-Foot Journey is about how the hundred-foot distance between a new Indian kitchen and a traditional French one can represent the gulf between different cultures and desires. Only after Madame Mallory wages culinary war with the immigrant family, does she finally agree to mentor young Hassan, leading him to Paris, the launch of his own restaurant, and a slew of new adventures. They open an inexpensive Indian restaurant opposite an esteemed French relais-that of the famous chef Madame Mallory-and infuse the sleepy town with the spices of India, transforming the lives of its eccentric villagers and infuriating their celebrated neighbor. The boisterous Haji family takes Lumière by storm. But when tragedy pushes the family out of India, they console themselves by eating their way around the world, eventually settling in Lumière, a small village in the French Alps. “ Slumdog Millionaire meets Ratatouille” ( The New York Times Book Review) in this “delicious fairytale-like read” (NPR) about family, nationality, and the mysteries of good taste.īorn above his grandfather’s modest restaurant in Mumbai, Hassan Haji first experienced life through intoxicating whiffs of spicy fish curry, trips to the local markets, and gourmet outings with his mother.
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