Interview: Jennifer Yen serves us a delicious treat with A Taste for Love

It’s a tale as old as time–rebellious teenage daughter buts head with overbearing but well-meaning mother. What could go wrong?

In Jennifer Yen’s YA debut, A Taste for Love, a lot of things can go wrong, it turns out, as protagonist Liza finds herself at the center of a baking competition turned Bachelor-esque dating competition.

The novel is a sumptuous delight of pastries and food that will leave you hungry to turn each page as Liz grows closer to her own Mr. Darcy, James, a stoic and handsome baker in the competition.

Despite the retelling, you’ll be surprised at the twists and turns along the way as Yen provides a fresh twist on YA romance novels. Additionally, A Taste for Love gives readers a much needed and authentic depiction of Liza’s Taiwanese American family, in all its beauty and complexity.

Culturess sat down with Yen to discuss her novel, the difficulty in pulling off a fresh Pride & Prejudice retelling, food writing, and more. A Taste for Love is available wherever books are sold right now. (As a bonus, you can read the first chapter exclusively here on Culturess!)

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Culturess:  What led you to the overall premise of A Taste for Love? There have been dozens of Pride & Prejudice retellings, yet your specific story makes it feel fresh and unique.

How did you work to tease out the various elements of Jane Austen’s story and adapt it for your own purposes?

Jennifer Yen:  I had toyed with the idea of a Pride & Prejudice retelling for a long time, because I’m a huge fan of Jane Austen. The timelessness and relatability of her characters, regardless of your age or background, always struck a chord with me.

In particular, I noticed how the family and societal expectations faced by the Bennet sisters echoed that of the ones placed on girls and women in Asian culture even today. I knew I wanted to highlight this, but for months, there was something missing.

Then, in early 2019, a viral tweet came across my timeline involving a college campus police bulletin warning male students about an older woman approaching them, asking each to date her daughter.

I was so sure she had to be Asian–what other mom would go to such lengths to find her daughter a boyfriend? It wasn’t long before netizens tracked down a picture, and it turned out I was right! That’s when I knew I had found my Mrs. Bennet, and everything else fell into place shortly after.

Of course, you don’t write a story about Asian people without writing about food, and being a fan of the Great British Baking Show (formerly Great British Bake Off), it made perfect sense to incorporate the wonders of Asian pastries into the mix!

Culturess:  A Taste for Love has got to be one of the best food books I’ve read with so many mouth-watering descriptions of pastries, stir fry, and more. Are you a foodie or cook by nature or did you have to do research for the book? What surprised you the most about the food writing? 

Yen:  I am 100% a huge foodie, though I have to admit I am a terrible cook! There’s an art to cooking, to knowing what and how much to add to make a delicious dish, and I never had the instinct for it. As a scientist, however, I’ve always been drawn to the precision and predictability of baking. I find it relaxing to lose myself in the preparation and decoration of a pastry or dessert.

For A Taste for Love, I was fortunate enough to have enough baking knowledge I could describe the food and contest scenes without much additional research (unless you count the seasons of GBBO I marathoned before writing). The challenge was limiting myself on how much food to include!

Culturess:  Can you tell me more about the character of Sarah? She seems like a very subtle nod to the constant work that people of color have to do to educate their well-meaning but ignorant white friends. What did you want to try to accomplish with her character and her dynamics with Liza and Grace?

Yen:  Sarah is definitely a nod to the work that people of color do on a daily basis to educate others. My family immigrated to the United States and settled in North Texas by the time I was in the third grade.

Growing up, I came across several people like Sarah. Most were genuinely unaware their comments were ignorant due to not having a lot (or any) exposure to other cultures outside the stereotypes they saw in the media.

While it’s easy to get offended and angry when someone says something racist–even unintentionally–it doesn’t encourage learning. We talk a lot about being allies for people of color, but that doesn’t happen overnight.

If we want to encourage allyship, we have to understand mistakes can and will happen along the way. Forgiveness can be such a powerful tool for fostering understanding. That’s what I hope readers take away from Sarah’s friendship with Liza and Grace.

The growth she achieves through the book comes from her friends being open and willing to educate, rather than attacking or shaming her for her ignorance.

Culturess:  The family dynamics between Liza and Mrs. Yang (A Taste for Love‘s version of Elizabeth and Mrs. Bennett) are so deftly and emotionally written. It would have been very easy to make Liza a stereotypical rebellious teenager or Mrs. Yang so overbearing she was unlikable.

How did you strike the balance to show why the two of them make the choices they make? What was the hardest part about crafting their relationship amidst the rest of the plot?

Yen:  Having an #ownvoices perspective definitely informed the way I wrote Liza and Mrs. Yang. The push and pull between the two cultures you’re raised with is central to the diaspora experience, and part of growing up is resolving that conflict in a way that stays true to who you are.

My friends and I tackled the same struggles Liza faces in the story, but we all had different ways of coping. Seeing that showed me how complex acculturation can be. In my case, as a 1.5 generation immigrant, my parents are extremely traditional, while I am more “Americanized.”

I had many (sometimes tearful) fights with my mom trying to understand why she acted and said the things that she did. Sometimes it felt like I was talking to a wall, that we would never agree on anything, but the one constant that carried me through was knowing she loved me.

That was what I kept in mind when writing Liza and Mrs. Yang. They both want the same thing–for Liza to be happy and successful–but they can’t agree on how to make that happen. Nonetheless, they have genuine love and affection for each other, and I didn’t want that to be lost.

This was the hardest part to maintain when it came to crafting their relationship. It would have been much easier to fall into the trap of writing a “one-size-fits-all” mom and daughter dynamic, but it wouldn’t have felt authentic.

It’s the same reason why Liza doesn’t get exactly what she wants, and the same goes for Mrs. Yang. They ultimately come to a compromise that works for both of them, something that is far more realistic than a perfect happy ending.

Culturess:  Are you prepared for fans and readers to love James and Ben? What kind of YA romantic heroes do you want to see more of in the future?

Yen:  What is a romance without love interests worth swooning (and fighting) over? I can’t wait for fans and readers to tell me who they love and why. Tag me in all the posts!

I personally would love to see more YA romantic heroes who are complex and vulnerable. It’s easy to fall for the perfect book boyfriend, but nothing compares to the satisfaction of a hard-earned romance.

There’s a reason why the love between Elizabeth and Darcy resonates with me–they grow together and into their love. They both make mistakes, but they learn to forgive as well. The tension between two characters who slowly find their way to each other is what keeps me hooked every time.

Culturess:  Anything else you’d like to add?

Yen:  I wrote A Taste for Love partly because a book like this would have meant so much to younger me. Growing up as a person of color, particularly an immigrant, was so isolating at times. I hope readers will see themselves in Liza and the other characters and know they are not alone.

It might feel as though you’re trapped between two worlds, but you don’t have to choose just one. Find your truth. You can be the star of your own universe.

A Taste of Love is available February 2 wherever books are sold. Let us know if you add it to your TBR pile.