This fabulous literary cocktail recipe collection would make a perfect gift for a bookish friend who enjoys a drink… or three! The illustrations are wonderful, making the concoctions look super appealing and often featuring key characters or scenic skylines. The recipes themselves are intriguing but mostly relatively simple, containing standard drinks cabinet fare, which is great as I’m not the biggest fan of having to go out to buy an abundance of ingredients I’d only use once.

The structure of the collection is clever, built around the drinks mentioned in writing across the ages, from ‘A Christmas Carol’ to ‘Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas’. I enjoy the quotes included after each recipe and the author’s unique perspective. The last section sets forth the mantra of “write drunk, edit sober” and reveals the favourite tipples of some excellent authors, including of course Candice Bushnell’s Cosmpolitan. I’m most excited to try to make the mouthwatering Mint Julep of ‘The Great Gatsby’ fame.

Bonus points for the useful metric conversion table included at the end, and the sophisticated vintage feel!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy for review consideration.