The Surprising Life of Constance Spry
- ISBN-10
- 0330536109
- ISBN-13
- 9780330536103
- Category
- Biography & Autobiography
- Pages
- 256
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2010-11-30
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Author
- Sue Shephard
Description
Fascinating ... to be eagerly devoured’ Clarissa Dickson-Wright Most people today, if they have heard of her, associate Constance Spry with the cookery book bearing her name. But Connie was much, much more than the author of a bestselling cookery book. She was deeply unconventional, extremely charming and very determined; Spry’s life took her from the back streets of Victorian Derby to running a hugely successful business as the florist of choice for the highest of high society, organizing the flowers for royal weddings and indeed for the Queen's coronation. She endured a violent first marriage, had a lesbian affair with a cross-dressing artist and was a pioneer for working women at a time when few women had careers. Sue Shephard tells her extraordinary story with insight, wit and flair. 'Riveting.’ Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall ‘Makes you fall utterly in love with its subject’ New York Times Magazine ‘Reveals with the greatest skill and sympathy an extraordinary person - complicated, driven, sometimes secretive but gifted and artistic to an nth degree. What a story.' Elizabeth Buchan
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