Eyewitness London. Writer Jennifer Klinec

Who wouldn’t want to know how life in Iran, the country between Iraq and Pakistan, is? The Canadian Jennifer Klinec spent time in the country and wrote about her experiences in The Temporary Bride: A Memoir of Love and Food in Iran.

“Jennifer Klinec abandons a corporate job to launch a cooking school from her London apartment and travels to countries most people are fearful of, in search of ancient recipes and delicious things to eat. 

Her quest leads her to Iran where she wraps her hair in a scarf and hunts out a local woman to teach her the secrets of the Persian kitchen.” 

Food? Travel? Intercultural competence? I had to read the book

When Jennifer Klinec, she is a bit of a serial-traveller (for her cooking school she went to places like Burma, Ethiopia and Yemen), talks about travelling you instantly want to go and see more of this world. The way she describes food makes you hungry. Her raw honesty feels overwhelming at times. Jennifer talks about things in a through and through humble way, she never sensationalizes her time in the Islamic republic. Jennifer learns from her hosts and respects their beliefs. She envy's their community spirit, and is elated when she is invited (and if only for the time being) to become part of it. At the same time the reader feels that she knows what she wants.

Reading the book you learn that people in Iran are indeed open to dialogue with foreigners, and that they find ways to brave restrictions imposed on them. Jennifer’s story is a somehow bizarre one, but also so very ordinary, it could happen to literally everyone. On the very last pages, and up until the moment when tears roll down your cheeks, and not one moment sooner, you will read how her story ends. 

Finishing the book, you will have a strong desire to know what she is up to now. A sequel would be fantastic.

Jennifer Klinec lives in London, England and was so very lovely to tell us about her hometown. 

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THE TOURISTIN: Three words that characterize London?

Jennifer Klinec: Loud, proud, ever-changing.

THE TOURISTIN: How do you get around London?

Jennifer Klinec: I walk everywhere. I'll even walk an hour each way to the cinema. It's good for my head and because London is always changing it's the best way to try and keep track of all the new places constantly cropping up.