Why write a biography? It only pins you down. Suffice to say I was born in Africa. And already that’s seeing the world without its skin. My father was the local gynaecologist. My mother was born in Strasbourg. My grandmother lived with us. In many ways I loved my childhood but not in others. I would have been cheating myself if I hadn’t left to study English literature in Britain. Before that I was lucky enough to live in Paris on the threshold of womanhood, in the spring, on my own, and of course that stays with you forever. We ate well and cheaply and I learnt to love wine and got engaged. At Edinburgh I got a First class MA Honours and the Janet Christie Bequest to study abroad. So we drove to Florence and lived in an old farmhouse for 8 months, learning Italian, studying at the British Institute.
In the slipstream of your life you imagine you’ll be a great writer, another Virginia Woolf, have the perfect family, be the best mother. So many impossible aims. I ended up being a journalist. A mother to one daughter. A lover. As a journalist I did quite a lot of good in the beginning. Campaigning stories, saving a horribly mistreated lioness in Italy, seals in the Hebrides, premature babies at Dulwich hospital in need of incubators, endangered leatherback turtles in Tobago. I have done a lot of travel articles, restaurant and hotel reviews, and many years of exciting seat-of-the pants Showbiz stories, travelling with Freddie Mercury, Rod Steward, Spandau Ballet, interviewing Angelina Jolie, Leonardo di Caprio, Bono, Jude Law. Now I’m writing a novel set in Venice and its working title is Behind the Mirror. With a novel, which takes years to write, you’re not the same person at the end of the book as you were at the beginning. The story has changed, the characters are deeper, but you have changed with them. You fall in love with all of them. I’m nearly ready to say goodbye to them and let them stand on their own.
A city of contradictions and one that inspires a sense of great passion. Naples offers the unique ability to truly live in each moment IT WASN’T ONE THING that made me fall in love with Naples. It was so much all at once. The dazzling light, music on every street, the smell of oranges and … Continued
Sharon Feinstein’s experience on Monday is now the subject of a probe by British Home Secretary Priti Patel. A traveller has described how, after flying into the UK from South Africa’s O.R. Tambo International Aiport on Monday, she was able to breeze through passport control without a single Covid-19 check. Journalist Sharon Feinstein told CapeTalk’s … Continued
CORONAVIRUS: TOUGH NEW RULES PRITI Patel is investigating how a British woman breezed into the UK after landing from South Africa. The Daily Express yesterday revealed how Sharon Feinstein passed through the e-gates at Heathrow Airport without being asked to show her Covid-19 test certificate or passenger locator form. Ms Feinstein flew from Johannesburg to Doha … Continued
Go for the fantastic peach-and-champagne Bellinis and martini cocktails, the interesting people, the fact that Ernest Hemingway sat at a certain table writing his novels and Ezra Pound composed poetry here, says travel writer Sharon Feinstein. Harry’s Bar, Venice, is a one-off and never fails to impress. Harry’s doesn’t advertise itself. It’s so understated that … Continued
He’s the man with the golden strum… and now ed sheeran is being lined up to sing the theme for the new Bond movie. do so at the time, but insisted: “It’s good.” Previous artists providing the theme song have included Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney, Madonna and Adele. The Film-makers got the global chart-topper firmly in … Continued
GEORGE Clooney enjoys a night out with wife Amal and throws his art and soul into the occasion. The actor, 58, sketched a cat for staff at Da Ivo restaurant in Venice and signed it: “Another perfect night, thank you, Amal and George.” On an earlier visit, George inked a self-portrait and signed wine bottles … Continued
