Clarissa Dickson Wright (1947–2014)

This is overflowing with all sorts of unusual and interesting information. Clarissa Dickson Wright is surprisingly more knowledgable than I gave her credit for and she absolutely loves to ‘pootle’ about the countryside. Isn’t that a great word! This reads like something from Bill Bryson or Joanna Lumley and it reminded me of watching Penelope Keith talk about her Hidden Villages. Clarissa took me on a long, leisurely drive through the countryside, ending in her favourite county of Yorkshire. She showed me much along the way and made me laugh many times. I discovered she has strong views and opinions on a couple of contentious subjects but I for one won’t hold that against her. She’s written a great book, I loved it and hope you will too!… (more)

When I think of my sister the image is always of her on a Sunday after church. I would pass a few words with the Gaffer, hand out a few alms. She would stride back across the estate in her wellies, bellowing “String ‘em up, Bertie!” Not a glimmer of irony. Completely bonkers and hugely entertaining. Dickson Wright reminds me of my sister. This is a big book and a big subject, both overshadowed by a personality so massive it has developed its own evert horizon. She claims in chapter one that homelessness in Britain today is caused by the Reformation. And she’s only getting started. She may not be entirely trustworthy, but she does get the chronology right with the older things happening first and more recent things happening later. She opens her history in the 1150s. A very sensible choice if you ask me as the history of English food prior to this can be demonstrated in the following graph:

1065 – beer and red meat
1067 – beer and frumenty

One thing she she really does know about is food. She knows a lot and knows how to write about it in a consistently interesting way. Particularly useful is her personal experience. When she discusses the eating of badger, or seal, or udder, she can tell you what they taste like.… (more)

I found this book humorous but practical. It's sprinkled with anecdotes of interesting people that Ms. Dickson Wright has lived with and of her childhood as a “poor little rich girl” seeing more of the family servants and their work than her socialite mother. She also interjects fascinating bits of trivia here and there, such as “Lest you should think that candle making is just a hippie thing to do, you should know that the world's fifth largest yacht is owned by a candle maker and is called Paraffin.” [pg 146]

Overall a fun and well-illustrated read with plenty of good advice, but not your go-to resource. (I'm pretty sure that the authors are well aware of the existence of John Seymour's work and hold no illusions about being able to replace him.) I picked up plenty of vegetable gardening tips, a few good recipes, and was introduced to a few new possibilities (Linen made from nettles? Hmm . . .). My only hesitation about giving this book a rousing endorsement is small: they recommend lunar gardening, something I don't believe in.

The book covers most of the usual self-sufficiency topics, but with less emphasis on alternative energy and (because one half of the writing team is a food writer) more on making and keeping food.… (more)

Never having watched Two Fats Ladies I wasn't sure if this was going to be, just a book about cooking. Well it's not, and I certainly wasn't expecting such a roller coaster of a ride. You've heard the saying - everyone has a story? Well what a story Clarissa has to tell and she tells it very well. I was truely amazed. I hate to admit it but, I made the terrible mistake of judging Clarissa on her looks, a bad call by me and it serves me right - Clarissa put me in my place for prejudging. What a life this woman has had - born into a fairly privileged family then suffering badly at the hands of her father, she survived, luckily, leaving home to start life as a young woman in the 1960s when times were changing quickly. She became a successful barrister then sadly her life took a terrible dive into darkness and drink which lasted ten years! Having squandered her substantial inheritance she now had to start and earn a living. The Two Fat Ladies television programme gave her that opportunity. I can definitely recommend this book and ...never judge a book, or a person by their cover.… (more)