Girl on the Block

June 10, 2019
This debut memoir of a woman launching her career as a butcher offers a solid behind-the-curtain look at the meat industry. Twenty-six-year-old Wragg learned to butcher when she was hired as a teen at a farm shop in Derbyshire, England. Despite assuming that this was not a job for a woman, she “felt important, and trusted” when holding a knife on her first day, and quickly became desperate to learn more. In a business where women “are still the surprise, still the minority,” Wragg dealt with sexual harassment and a culture of male butchers reluctant to share their knowledge with her. She confronts realities of butchering (“Standing in front of an actual beef carcass... can be overwhelming, sometimes terrifying”), details the kill floor of slaughterhouses (“Butchers worked in a line of one hundred, breaking down carcasses and passing the meat on to a packing team”), and describes the meat industry in general (“It’s always changing, and in most cases, isn’t very profitable”). In sidebars, Wragg includes recipes, guides to knives and dry aging, and glossaries of cuts of beef and types of cattle. Foodies will appreciate Wragg’s honest take on the evolving world of butchery.

Starred review from August 1, 2019
English author Wragg boasts a career in the meat industry starting from the age of 16. Girl on the Block documents her journey from teenage ingenue to leader in the profession, and all of the challenges that come from stepping into a world not traditionally inhabited by young women. Evidence of this disconnect appears from the very beginning of the book, as Wragg details working as a teen at the butcher counter of a farm shop. Chapters of her experiences are separated by historical information and practical advice on meat and butchering. Throughout the book, readers see Wragg grapple with the male-centric tradition of her profession as well as the ethical, cultural, and historical intricacies surrounding being a butcher and consuming meat. Wragg's writing style is approachable and engaging, and her insights into a world that will be foreign to most readers are detailed and at times gripping. Foodies will love her insider's perspective, and home chefs especially will enjoy her book's practical aspects, which include descriptions of process and technique as well as recipes that dot the text. All readers will be enlightened by Wragg's experiences working in a largely male-dominated profession. This foodie memoir is a cut above.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)