Review ~ The Worst Case Scenario Cookery Club by Chrissie Manby

Hodder & Stougton
September 2017

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

What's it all about...

Liz's husband has left her for a twenty-something clean-eating blogger, and she's determined to show the world - and her daughter - she's just as capable in the kitchen. John, newly widowed after fifty years of marriage, can't live on sympathy lasagnes forever. To thirty-year-old workaholic Bella, the course is a welcome escape from her high-pressure job. Their only common ground: between them, they can barely boil an egg!

Enter talented chef Alex, who is determined to introduce his pupils to the comforts of cuisine. As Liz, John and Bella encounter various disasters in the kitchen, the unlikely trio soon form a fast friendship. Their culinary skills might be catastrophic - but could the cookery club have given them a recipe for happiness?

My thoughts about it...

The Worst Case Scenario is a lovely story about taking back control of your life when it all seems to be going heads up. The cookery school, run by talented chef, Alex, holds out the possibility, to Liz, John and Beth, of more than just learning the rudiments of cookery.

The warmth of the story draws you in from the beginning and I enjoyed meeting all the major characters and soon became invested emotionally in their individual stories. There are some lovely moments which had me laughing out loud one minute, especially when reading of Liz's overweight dog, Ted, and then, reading with a lump in my throat when learning of widower, John's loneliness and sadness. 

In The Worst Case Scenario Cookery Club the author explores all the different aspects of human nature and does so with gentle wit and huge warmth. And if, like me you are already missing your weekly fix of The Great British Bake Off , then this lovely story may just fill the gap.

About the Author

Chrissie Manby is the author of twenty romantic comedies including a Proper Family Holiday, The Matchbreaker, and Seven Sunny Days. She has had several Sunday Times best sellers and her novel about behaving badly after a break up, Getting Over Mr Right was nominated for the 2011, Melissa Nathan award.

Follow on Twitter @chrisseimanby or visit her website

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