The Summer I Ate The Rich Maika and Maritza Moulite
Read By Ashley De la Rosa and cast
Published: April 2025
Summary from Goodreads:
Just add lemon, garlic, and a dash of the one percent.
This smart, biting novel explores what happens when a Haitian American girl uses her previously hidden zombie abilities to exact revenge on the wealthy elites who’ve caused her family pain.
Brielle Petitfour loves to cook. But with a chronically sick mother and bills to pay, becoming a chef isn’t exactly a realistic career path.
When Brielle’s mom suddenly loses her job, Brielle steps in and uses her culinary skills to earn some extra money. The rich families who love her cooking praise her use of unique flavors and textures, which keep everyone guessing what’s in Brielle’s dishes. The secret ingredient? Human flesh.
Written by the storytelling duo Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite, The Summer I Ate the Rich is a modern-day fable inspired by Haitian zombie lore that scrutinizes the socioeconomic and racial inequity that is the foundation of our society. Just like Brielle’s clients, it will have you asking: What’s for dinner?
Confession:
This book was a lot of fun to listen to. It definitely isn’t horror. It does involve a main character that is a zombie, and yes she does cross some lines here and there, but it never devolves into anything close to horror. I think people see the word zombie in the summary and just assume. But that aside this was much better than any horror book could have been, because there was a lot of truth and reality to the whole story.
Ashley De la Rosa does the main voice of Brielle who tells most of the story. She did an excellent job bringing Brielle and the other characters to life. There are a lot of other people who narrate other parts of the story. There are chapters told by Brielle‘s sisters. These women also did a nice job with their characters. I loved the accents and the stories that these women tell.
I just loved Brielle. She has had a kind of tough life. She has known from a young age that she is a zonbi, which is the Haitian version of the zombie, and much different too. I loved how into cooking Brielle is and her desire to share that cooking with everyone. Her mother has health issues and like many immigrants has difficulties receiving the health care that they need. They have a tenuous relationship with each other, but underneath it all you can see how much they love each other. Brielle also has a nice relationship with Marcelo, a friend, and I just loved their banter.
This story is really about immigrants, wealth inequity and following your dreams. I enjoyed watching Brielle tackle the Uber rich in this story, mostly through her cooking with her ‘special’ sauce. There is a bit of light cannibalism in the story, or at least it is implied as no knows that that is what they are doing. There was a lot of comparison between what she saw at work and what went on at home in her neighborhood that really showed the iniquities of the world. Prescription drugs and the opioid crisis was also brought into the story. There are probably lots of other themes I am forgetting. There is even a bit of romance which was very sweet, but didn’t overwhelm the story.
I did have a few issues with the plot. The ending felt a bit rushed and I didn’t think there was a solid connection between what happens to her boss and what she was trying to accomplish. The ending just felt a little undercooked. I would have also liked to learn a bit more about the Haitian zombie, and some of the religious ceremonies that were towards the end of the book too. The pacing was also a little off at times.
Overall, I did really like this story even though it wasn’t quite what I thought it would be. If you enjoy stories with strong female characters, social commentary and a lot of good cooking this is a book you should take a look at.
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