February 27

Spilling the Beans
By Clarissa Dickson Wright

This delightful autobiography tells the story of the British TV chef, who writes about her descent into - and climb out of - alcoholism.  Born into wealth; Clarissa's mother is an heiress from Australia and her father a successful surgeon who treats the royal family.  But her father is also mean and an alcoholic.  Clarissa determines to become a lawyer and is actually the youngest woman ever admitted to the bar in England.  When her adored mother dies, however, Clarissa's world falls apart.  She spends away her inherited fortune and she, herself, turns to alcohol.  Her career in ruins, she faces her problems and turns to cooking, one of the few pastimes she has always enjoyed.  Clarissa's honest and stiff-upper-lip style make the book interesting, as the reader hears of Clarissa's wealthy but dysfunctional family, her brilliant (though short-lived) law career, and her unexpected rise to TV fame.  It's encouraging to meet someone who overcomes a difficult childhood and the problems that later plague her as an adult to go on to a career as a TV personality and writer who makes no excuses for herself.

There are actually no more copies of this book in RI public libraries, although many of Wright's other titles are available, including her cookbooks and her more recent Clarissa's England: A Gamely Gallop through the English Counties.

Additionally, the first season of her show, "Two Fat Ladies", is available on DVD.  "Two Fat Ladies" is a delightful program, with Clarissa and Jennifer cooking in different venues, from a castle kitchen to a hunting lodge to a monastery kitchen, in each segment.  Sadly, Jennifer Paterson, the other half of the Fat Ladies duo, passed away in 1999.