Good manners are simply codified kindness, and being in possession of them enhances the quality of your everyday life and that of the people around you. At home and abroad, Debora and Kay have done the fieldwork, made the mistakes, and committed enough embarrassing faux pas for two lifetimes, in the hope that you don’t have to.
Illustrations by Denise Dorrance
Good manners aren't about cutlery, codes or cleverness – they're about kindness.
Writers Kay Plunkett-Hogge and Debora Robertson have honed their combined social wisdom into a warm, witty, how-to guide on how to live modern life with manners – and have a lot of fun along the way.
Debora and Kay have done the fieldwork, made the mistakes, and committed enough embarrassing faux pas for two lifetimes, in the hope that you don’t have to! Their funny, frank handbook is your cheat sheet to every social situation, your right-hand man(ual) to styling out life with sass and a modicum of grace.
Their tried-and-tested guidelines are divided into five main categories:
At Home: family life; sharing is caring; entertaining at home; dinner; welcome to the neighbourhood
At Large: work; public spaces; public transport and petiquette – pets in public
At Play: social life; eating out, staying away; dating in the modern world
@ Your Computer: digital decorum; phones
At the End: dealing with illness and death
Good manners are not about knowing what to wear for drinks at six, being pretentious or catching people out with some mysterious salad-fork-related regulation. In essence, good manners are simply organised kindness, and Kay and Debora will show you how being in possession of them will enhance the quality of your everyday life and that of the people around you.
Debora Robertson is a pet enthusiast, food writer and journalist who has written for the Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Red, Waitrose Kitchen, Sainsbury’s Magazine, BBC Good Food Magazine, Delicious Magazine and Country Life Magazine, among many others. She lives in north London with her husband Séan, her dogs Barney and Gracie, her cat Dixie and a mountain of cookbooks.
Kay Plunkett-Hogge is an acclaimed food and drinks writer and the author of Aperitivo: Drinks and Snacks For The Dolce Vita, Adventures Of A Terribly Greedy Girl, A Sherry And A Little Plate Of Tapas, Heat: Cooking With Chillies and Make Mine A Martini. In addition to her own books, Kay has co-authored a further six books, working with the award-winning chef Bryn Williams on his two books Bryn’s Kitchen and For The Love Of Veg, Academy Award nominated actor Stanley Tucci on his second cookbook The Tucci Table, and with the American pizza guru Chris Bianco. She also co-wrote Leon: Family and Friends with John Vincent and Cook Yourself Thin: Quick and Easy. She writes a monthly column for delicious magazine and lives in London with her husband, cats and dogs.
