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.
There’s a new wave of travellers, harking back to the 18th century ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe, that educational rite of passage for the privileged few. Cultured tourism for those with taste, time and means, where you attempt to like a local, imbibe the history, language and way of life. So I came to Venice for … Continued
George Clooney was so happy with his meal he donated signed tequila bottles to the restaurant – and his owner is quids in. The star sold his tequila brand for £800million this week but not before doodling on bottles for Da Ivo boss Giovanni Fracassi. Giovanni said: “The bottles and sketches he made are … Continued
Angelina Jolie is looking to rent a spectacular property in North London for £64,000 a month. The 1930s five-bedroom house in Primrose Hill, worth £24million, boasts a cinema, swimming pool, orangery and roof terrace. Hollywood star Angelina sent her people to view it as son Maddox, 15, is keen on studying at the capital’s Slade School … Continued
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are invited to a second emotional visit in Princess Diana’s footsteps, following their trip to Paris earlier this month. Top Venetian restaurateur, Eligio Paties, is officially inviting the Royal couple to visit Venice and dine at the same table Charles and Diana shared 32 years ago. An emotional … Continued
A food guru who inspired Jamie Oliver’s love of Italian cuisine has urged him to take a break from TV and focus on cooking again. Marco Bergamasco said: “He has become more like an actor than a cook. He should go back to his roots.” Venice-based Marco was shocked when his celebrity pal shut six … Continued
It has taken the artist Damien Hirst 10 years to prepare his new exhibition, which opens in Venice in April, but one of his most recent works is not included — it is hanging in a nearby restaurant. Hirst visited Giovanni Fracassi’s Da Ivo celebrit y restaurant last week and left him a sketch the … Continued
Damien Hirst was so pleased with an Italian meal that he handed over a quick sketch as a tip – an artwork now valued at £250,000. Giovanni Fracassi, boss of the Da Ivo restaurant in Venice, was stunned when the British artist, 51, asked for a pen and paper after his plate of duck pasta … Continued
Liam Payne has nearly finished recording his music in LA as he prepares to become a dad for the first time. The former One Direction singer, 23, is being closely supported by girlfriend Cheryl who is heavily pregnant with their baby. And Liam will return to the UK to help Cheryl, 33, in the … Continued
