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The Monday Night Cooking School
The Monday Night Cooking School
Jul 16, 2025 3:24 AM

Author:Erica Bauermeister

The Monday Night Cooking School

On Monday nights eight people gather in Lillian's restaurant for a cooking class. There's Claire, who can barely remember the last time she went out without her two kids; bachelor Ian, who exists on Chinese takeaways; Chloe, the distracted waitress who is forever dropping things; Carl and Helen, getting past a betrayal in their marriage; and Tom, mourning the tragic loss of his wife. Plus Lillian, who taught herself to cook to reach out to her unhappy mother.

From delicious feasts to dining disasters, will the cooks find what they are looking for? And among the utensils and mouth-watering ingredients, will some of them even fall in love?

The Monday Night Cooking School is a gorgeous novel about possibilities and the magic of food.

Reviews

Durham combines sharp political manoeuvering with some breathtaking action sequences and equally sharp prose. He writes with great clarity. sweeping you up in the grandeur of his epic vision

—— SFX magazine

Following in the footsteps of George R. R. Martin...a riveting and thought-provoking read

—— REALMS OF FANTASY magazine

A big, fat, rich piece of history-flavoured fantasy...imagined with remarkable thoroughness

—— TIME magazine

An outrageous and exhilarating foul-mouthed book

—— Sunday Times

Vintage Welsh: Brilliant, graphic, with frequent forays into the grotesque

—— Sunday Tribune

This is Welsh's tightest narrative structure in some time, and a pleasing change of pace after his previous two novels...a carefully considered blend of three-dimensional realism and expertly judged modern gothic horror. Welsh is such a convincing writer that you never doubt his plot for a moment

—— Literary Review

The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs is Welsh back on cracking, page-turning, stomach-churning, gut-busting form. You'll whiz through it, in a good way

—— Independent

Rattles along with impressive energy

—— Daily Telegraph

The great liberation of Welsh's writing is it's ability to capture the lust for freedom...the most touching and beautiful of his writings...if her carries on like this he'll start dragging the place [Scotland] back to the bloody enlightenment

—— Independent

This transitional phase in his life is has been mirrored by a new direction in Welsh's writing as evinced by this new book, The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs. The novel is less visceral than his past work and is more in dialogue with Celtic writers such a Oscar Wilde than it is music, the form he has long claimed his inspiration

—— GQ

Welsh gives more than a passing nod to Dorian Gray in this latest outing...in a supernatural twist Welsh unleahes his usual irresistible mayhem

—— Herald

This, his eighth work of fiction since Trainspotting, has all the ingredients of his earlier success. I found it funny, dark and readable, showing the author on good form

—— The Times

Irvine Welsh's novel is...a powerful and intelligent fable about human emotions and behaviour

—— Sunday Telegraph

A beautifully controlled novel

—— Literary Review

There's plenty here to pull you in and, it must be said, I do really like the cover

—— meandmybigmouth Blog

Stories, generations and nationalities collide in what is an entertaining and superior novel

—— Lesley McDowell , Independent on Sunday
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