Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block
Women’s Fiction
Setting – England/Indonesia
Publisher : Berkley
Publication date : April 28, 2026
Print length : 304 pages
Paperback
ISBN-10 : 0593953053
ISBN-13 : 978-0593953051
Kindle
ISBN-13 : 978-0593953068
ASIN : B0FK98J9N2
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…
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Mebel was raised to be one thing: a trophy wife to a wealthy man. She marries Henk, a real estate tycoon, and they have one son, Sammy. Now, as retirement nears, she is ready to travel the world with her husband to see all it has to offer. Mebel gets a rude awakening when her husband, Henk, informs her that their marriage of over 40 years is over. He is leaving her for their private chef. The self-proclaimed CHIP – a Chinese-Indonesian Princess has always strived to keep her husband happy and anticipate all his needs. Her son tells her she needs a plan to get her husband back. He never imagined she would want to level the playing field by going to cooking school. If Henk wanted a chef, she would learn to cook. The best cooking schools are in France, the most romantic place in the world. She quickly enrolls and sets off on a grand adventure to win Henk back.
She arrives to learn she is not enrolled in the school in France but their sister school in a small village outside Oxford, England. After an interesting journey, she arrives, checks into her tiny room, and learns all the other students are much younger than her 63 years. An unlikely friendship grounds her in ways that may turn her life in a new direction.
Mebel fell in love with Henk when she found out his name was spelled Henk, not Hank, like she was Mebel, not Mabel. She had a good life as a trophy wife: social events, shopping with friends, running her household in ways to please her husband. She has a high opinion of herself until the bottom fell out of her life. While she took some time to crumble, she got up, dusted herself off, and came up with a plan. A plan that was much harder to fulfill than she had imagined. A plan with no promise that it would work to get her husband back.
Mebel’s life at the school was a real test, but as she settled in, it became an intergenerational story filled with humor and heartwarming moments. When her friend disappeared from the school, we entered into a mystery phase to find them and find out why they left. This led to some surprising twists and turns.
Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block is a later-in-life coming-of-age story. I really enjoyed Mebel’s awakening and her journey. As a 60+ woman who could never be a trophy wife, I was so happy that Mebel 2.0 was not what she expected, but she was thrilled by who she became. She has so much more of life to live; she deserves to put herself first. Overall, this is a lighthearted, entertaining read and a wonderfully enjoyable escape.
*Some explicit language
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
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About the Author
Find All of Jesse’s Books HERE.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” “As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.” I am also an affiliate of Bookshop.org, and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.” These funds are often used for gift cards and other giveaways.
Dollycas’s Best Reads of 2024
The books on this list were my favorites; I would have given them more than 5 stars.
, was bought by Netflix in a competitive bidding war. Her adult books include
and its sequel, 
. Her YA books include 
, 
, and her upcoming rom-com, 
. Her MG books include 
and an untitled sequel.
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