Nigella Lawson: The Unauthorised Biography - Hardcover

Smith, Gilly

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9780233001548: Nigella Lawson: The Unauthorised Biography

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0233001549 ISBN 13: 9780233001548

Publisher: Andre Deutsch Ltd, 2005

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Nigella was born in 1960 into a family of privilege and wealth: her father was to become chancellor and her mother was an heiress. She began her career at the Sunday Times and Spectator, writing on books and restaurants. In 1992 she and fellow journalist John Diamond were married in secret in Venice. When nine-months pregnant with her first child, daughter Cosima, Nigella's younger sister Thomasina died of breast cancer, aged 32. Nigella joined Vogue as their food writer, and a second child followed: Bruno. When he was 6 months old Nigella learned that her husband had throat cancer. John Diamond wrote powerfully of his illness in a column in the Times and then in a bestselling book. Nigella published her first book: How to Eat, and appeared on TV with friend Nigel Slater. In 1997 she lost her husband. Despite such tragedy Nigella has gone on to achieve huge success, with her bestselling book How to be a Domestic Goddess, the TV show Nigella Bites in the UK and US, and columns in the Times and Observer. With her unashamed enjoyment for food and her curvy beauty, Nigella continues to fascinate and beguile.

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About the Author:

Gilly Smith is a journalist with a background in TV (The Big Breakfast, Food File, Kilroy) and radio (GLR, Talk Radio), and is also the publisher and author of The Juicy Guides, a popular series of local guide-books on Brighton and Hove. She has written several other books on food, and lives with her family in Brighton.

1999, Shepherds Bush, West London

Nigella Lawson, journalist, author and mother of two young children is in her kitchen in a rather unassuming basement on Goldhawk Road. She� s putting her make up on; nothing too fussy � " a bit of mascara and some lippy. She digs into the Whistles bag next to her and picks out a couple of little tops, holding them up to the light, and calls to the dark haired young woman unpacking a bag of food by the larder to ask her which she thinks she should wear. Hettie Potter, a home economist in her late twenties puts down the tin of tomatoes and suggests the one with short sleeves. � Can� t show my arms� replies Nigella, settling for the long sleeved version.

They look over to the crew of men bustling around her kitchen for approval - and get none. They� re busy taping cable to her floor, angling light boxes and installing huge film lights to turn this dark family kitchen into a surreally bright television studio. And besides, they don� t care if her arms look fat.

Director, Bruce Goodison, sexily scruffy in his mid thirties, circles Nigella, holding a small camera. He� s charming her, teasing her with his endless questions about what she� s going to be cooking, why she doesn� t wear a brighter red lipstick, how she� s going to feel when she� s a TV superstar. She barely notices the camera as she tells him her running order for the show, blots her lips and pops one of the cookies she and Hettie baked yesterday afternoon into his mouth.

John Diamond, journalist and broadcaster, husband of Nigella, father of two small children and associate producer on the show, walks in and scribbles a note for Bruce. He reads it and laughs before throwing it in the bin. They smile conspiratorially. Bruce asks Hettie to quickly whip up some cream.

The lights are set. Sound recordist Chris Syner is fixing a microphone into Nigella� s hair; (a bra is no place for a microphone with this woman) and cameraman, Neville Kidd is waiting for the director� s command. Finally it� s time. Nigella moves over to the worktop as Hettie moves into the background.

� Standby everybody� shouts Bruce. � Roll tape. And� �.action�

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