Clarissa Dickson-Wright’s much acclaimed biography is moving, fascinating and infuriating all at the same time. The youngest of four children, she and her adored mother bore the brunt of her surgeon father’s abuse over many years, something which contributed to her eventual descent into alcoholism.Her recovery with the aid of Alcoholics Anonymous and her subsequent career in food and then television are fascinatingly described. I suspect Clarissa and I wouldn’t see eye to eye on such things as feminism and bloodsports but the book is totally gripping as she writes with such honesty and good humour.