Meredith Mileti '83 has published her debut novel Aftertaste: A Novel in Five Courses. The book is about Mira Rinaldi, a New York City restaurant owner with roots in Pittsburgh who must figure out how to hold her life together when she discovers her husband cheating on her. Mileti began writing the story several years ago while she was working on her dissertation and was inspired by her own love of cooking. Recipes she tested herself are included in the book.
Aftertaste is receiving glowing reviews. Ann Mah, the author of Chinese Kitchen, wrote, "Meredith Mileti's Aftertaste is as honest, hearty, and deeply satisfying as the Italian peasant fare cooked by her heroine. A delightful debut novel about the important things in life: food, family, and love" and the New York Journal of Books said, "Meredith Mileti's debut novel is as thoughtful and poignant as it is wickedly funny."
Mileti majored in English literature at Hamilton and went on to study art history and developmental psychology in graduate school. She is planning a second novel, a work of historical fiction inspired by her Italian ancestors, sculptors who moved to New York in the 1880s and became the "exclusive marble carvers" for American sculptor Daniel Chester French.
