In 1977 David was badly injured in a car accident—sustaining a fractured left elbow and right wrist, a damaged knee cap and a broken jaw—from which she took a long time to recover. While she was in hospital, "English Bread and Yeast Cookery" was published. Its scholarship won high praise, and Jane Grigson, writing in "The Times Literary Supplement", suggested that a copy of the book should be given to every marrying couple, while Hilary Spurling, reviewing for "The Observer", thought that not only was it "a scathing indictment of the British bread industry", but one done with "orderliness, authority, phenomenal scope and fastidious attention to detail".