This book was so very odd, the most vomit I’ve ever had the misfortune to come across and yet strangely compelling and sort of fun? A woman is accosted by an elderly woman and her lady-in-waiting (?) to help them eat some cake. Before long, this old woman has completely grasped control of the younger one’s life, essentially kicking her out of her apartment, and forcing her to steal a bunch of shit from museums. Honestly, rarely knew exactly what was going on but it was definitely unique!

But amid the sort of (sinister) silliness and heists, there is the dark heart of disordered eating. If you have any sort of sensitivity around EDs please look after yourself and stay away from this book, as it’s extremely graphic about bingeing, purging, and restrictive eating habits. At its centre, The Empress and the Cake is all about control, or a lack thereof - the things we think we control but which actually have us in their grip.

I didn’t fully grasp the parts in italics scattered throughout, which were about an Empress named Sissi. There were some parallels with the three main characters, and I wondered if it was a runaway/empress in hiding situation? But I am not fully sure, that part remained nebulous.