The Table of Life
Nourishing the Soul with Food, Love, and Faith
The inspirational memoir The Table of Life is about comfort food and a search for personal empowerment and authenticity.
Motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and advocate Tommi A. Vincent’s heartfelt self-help guide The Table of Life pairs reflections on various personal struggles and triumphs with nurturing recipes.
As a three-year-old in New Jersey, Vincent’s first culinary venture was to make hot cereal; she measured out farina and water and thrilled her “toddler self” with the imperfect results. Noting at an early age how “food, love, and prayer” were the “trinity of ingredients” within her family dynamic, she enjoyed the delicious meals prepared by her mother, grandmothers, and aunts amid an environment of welcoming sustenance.
Vincent also relates witnessing domestic violence as a child, watching in fear as a bloodied relative cowered from her abuser. Following his perfunctory arrest, the man responsible would return to repeat the cycle. Vincent gave birth to a daughter at the age of twelve. Later, she endured psychological and physical abuse from her teenage boyfriend. Determined to escape the toxic situation, she enrolled in college and met her husband, then-rookie NFL player Troy Vincent.
Vincent’s tone is straightforward and engaging as she recounts her adolescent pregnancy and recreational drug and alcohol use. She also relates her feelings of renewed purpose as she watched her future spouse suffer a severe injury during a Miami Dolphins game. Committing to the relationship, she helped Troy recover by preparing the hearty recipes of the resilient women who had raised her.
Each chapter features relevant advice from Vincent along with a corresponding recipe. She explains how collard greens toughen with maturity, and how like that “versatile plant,” she’s become “sturdy and tender at the same time.” Simple white rice can adapt to a multitude of sauces and seasonings, she says, just as life can be varied and “full of flavor.” Skillet Roasted Lemon Rosemary Chicken evokes memories of her grandmother’s superb chicken soup, while her deviled eggs contrast fiery hot sauce and sweet candied bacon.
Though the book only features nine recipes, they are revered comfort and soul food standards. With affectionate hindsight, Vincent reflects upon her mother’s lifelong “superwoman” efforts and the caring stoicism of her grandmothers, along with her own inherited tendency to focus on the needs of others. She is candid about seeking professional therapy to manage her struggles with depression and urges other women to reach out for help if needed. Even the suggestion of using a premade, frozen crust for “luscious” sweet potato pie alludes to lightening burdens through time-saving convenience, with the unapologetic advisory of how it’s not necessary “to start everything from scratch.” And while the book’s revelatory and emergent language is sometimes repetitive, it also heightens the tone of sustained encouragement toward seeking individual empowerment and authenticity.
A forthright and compassionate memoir–cum–self-help book, The Table of Life is rich with learned wisdom, guidance, and “soul food therapy” recipes.
Reviewed by
Meg Nola
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
