It is a profoundly moving and honest account of how desperate they were when Kitty could no longer go to school. They both want to work more with schools, with a local prison; Kitty often says she wants to “democratise” good bread. There are some photographs scattered around the recipe section of the book, but the first half contains little sketches which I believe are done by one half of the baking team Al. While I can't imagine what that time was like for Kitty or her parents, I still felt bad for the older siblings who just seemed like they were on their own.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes autobiography or memoirs, real life stories, triumph over adversity, community spirit and of course baking or consuming baked goods. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Observer ‘Writing about it made me realise my mental health wasn’t my fault and it never really was’: Kitty Tait and her father, Al, at the Orange Bakery in Watlington, Oxfordshire. As someone who got into making sourdough bread at the start of the pandemic due to the lack of availability of yeast I had an interest in this book for the recipes but actually the story won me over and charmed me completely. Kitty's father was taking time off his career as a teacher to be alongside Kitty and support her during this difficult time. It’s fascinating seeing Kitty going back to these places but on a whole different level, slotting into their system as an established baker,” says Al.Breadsong tells the story of Kitty Tait, who was a typical energetic fun loving 14 year old, and her slump into a deep depression and overwhelming pit of anxiety, and how she ended up shrinking back from the world. Kitty couldn’t see the reason for anything and so one of us needed to be with her the entire time, day and night, to reassure her she was safe. Kitty and Al started up a subscription service, and within a year came pop-ups, a crowdfunder and the bakery.

I will never look at bread the same and have a much deeper appreciation for the ways in which we can connect to our food because of this book. I started making this bread at a time when every day seemed like a war zone, full of panic attacks, extreme lows and constant blasts of exhausting mental shrapnel. At the back are loads of great recipes from bread to cakes to cookies so people of different ability’s can join in and bake. Also I really like the form of the book, it being set up through Kitty's and Al's alternated writing, interspursed with pictures and drawings. Like the fairy godmother turns a pumpkin into a carriage, time transforms your scrappy, dull dough into a bubbly, live creature of its own, although I think I’d prefer the pumpkin over the carriage.After a few whirlwind months, she and her dad opened the Orange Bakery, where queues now regularly snake down the street. Watlington, which claims to be the smallest town in England, has a strong sense of community and gathered Kitty to its bosom, supporting her every step of the way.