Midnight Chicken: & Other Recipes Worth Living For

'A manual for living and a declaration of hope' - Nigella Lawson * 'A moving testimonial to the redemptive power of cooking. Generous, honest and uplifting' - Diana Henry

There are lots of ways to start a story, but this one begins with a chicken...

When the world becomes overwhelming, Ella Risbridger focuses on the little things that bring her joy, like enjoying a glass of wine when cooking, FaceTiming with a friend whilst making bagels, and sharing recipes that are good for the soul. One night she found herself lying on her kitchen floor, wondering if she would ever get up - and it was the thought of a chicken, of roasting it, and of eating it, that got her to her feet and made her want to be alive.

Midnight Chicken is a cookbook. Or, at least, you'll flick through these pages and find recipes so inviting that you will head straight for the kitchen: roast garlic and tomato soup, uplifting chilli-lemon spaghetti, charred leek lasagne, squash skillet pie, spicy fish finger sandwiches and burnt-butter brownies.

It's the kind of cooking you can do a little bit drunk, that is probably better if you've got a bottle of wine open and a hunk of bread to mop up the sauce. But if you settle down and read it with a cup of tea (or a glass of that wine), you'll also discover that it's an annotated list of things worth living for - a manifesto of moments worth living for. This is a cookbook to make you fall in love with the world again.

Featuring an entire chapter on storecupboard recipes. 'Risbridger is the most talented British debut writer in a generation' - Sunday Times * 'A big old massive heart exploding love story' - The Times