Product Description

Clarissa was born into wealth and privilege, as a child, shooting and hunting were the norm and pigeons were flown in from Cairo for supper. Her mother was an Australian heiress, her father was a brilliant surgeon to the Royal family. But he was also a tyrannical and violent drunk who used to beat her and force her to eat carrots with slugs still clinging to them. Clarissa was determined and clever, though, and her ambition led her to a career in the law. At the age of 21, she was the youngest ever woman to be called to the Bar. Then disaster struck when her adored mother died suddenly. It was to lead to a mind-numbing decade of wild over-indulgence. Rich from her inheritance, in the end Clarissa had partied away her entire fortune. It was a long, hard road to recovery along which Clarissa finally faced her demons and turned to the one thing that had always brought her joy – cooking. Now at last she has found success, sobriety - and peace. With the stark honesty and the brilliant wit we love her for, Clarissa recounts the tale of a life lived to extremes. A vivid and funny story, it is as moving as it is a cracking good read.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8497 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

About the Author
Clarissa Dickson Wright found fame alongside Jennifer Paterson as one half of the much loved, TV cooking partnership Two Fat Ladies. She is the author of five cookery books including The Game Cookbook and, most recently, Sunday Roast, both with Johnny Scott. She is also a passionate supporter of the Countryside Alliance and of rural life and pursuits. She lives a little in London but mostly in Scotland.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic, well worth reading..
Absolutely fantastic, I couldnt put this book down once I started reading it. I am amazed by so much life experience and cant beleive one person has been through all this. I cant recommend it highly enough and will pass it onto whoever I can. Clarissa I take my hat off to you and admire you thoroughly.

Fantastic Book
What a fantastic book - brutally honest with the impression that nothing is held back I admire Clarissa for her strength in eventually facing her problems. She has a lust for life and a great sense of fun as well that makes you wonder what she could of achieved if alcohol hadnt entered her life for so long. An inspiring and interesting read I recommend this book whole heartly!

A vivid and entertaining memoir
I decided to read this because I enjoyed The Two Fat Ladies so much and my parents once attended medical lectures given by CDW's surgeon father who was well-known as a difficult character. These memoirs are vivid and moving. The chapters which describe her early years, her eccentric family and relationship with her father are the best ones. I found her descriptions of what it is like to be an alcoholic enlightening and certainly gave me an insight into alcohol addiction. The anecdoctal style is both a strength and a weakness of the book. You can almost feel CDW with her larger-than-life personality talking to you herself over a cup of tea; on the other hand the frequent use of colloquialisms and unexplained slang words gets annoying while later chapters suffer from long-windedness. A more thorough editing would have been helpful.