Mary Berry: Queen of British Baking: The Biography

by A.S. Dagnell

Mary Berry is one of Britain's most respected and well-loved gurus of the kitchen. The undisputed Queen of the Aga has been the focus of many television shows and regularly contributes her expertise on "Woman's Hour." The recent hit BBC show "The Great British Bake Off" has once again put Mary back into the limelight and has reignited a passion for baking across the nation. Inspired by domestic science classes at school, Mary took a catering course at her local college before gaining a qualification from the Cordon Bleu school in Paris. After a stint working for the Electricity Board where she demonstrated to new owners of electric cookers how to operate them by cooking a Victoria sponge, and then as editor of "Housewife and Ideal Home" magazine, Mary published her first cookbook, "The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook," in 1970 and hasn't looked back since. As well as cookery books, Mary has collaborated with her daughter Annabel to produce their own range of dressings and sauces which as now sold worldwide. But her personal life has also been touched by tragedy, as her son William was killed in a car accident at the age of just 19. With over 70 cookbooks under her belt, there is no doubt that Mary Berry is one of Britain's most successful cookery writers. Awarded the CBE in 2012, her gentle personality and classic family cooking style are a remarkable contrast to some of the more outspoken celebrity television chefs just one of the reasons why, even after over40 years in the industry, she is so well loved. This is her fascinating story."

243 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really dissapointing, I got this out of the library and the only reason I stuck with it was that I had an hour and a half to wait and no other book. This person hadn't even spoken to Mary! Every quote ended in one of three things- Mary said to the Daily Mail or Mary said to the Express or Mary said to Desert Island Discs. It read like a school project. A couple of photos, none of when Mary was little.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was having trouble figuring out how to download a certain book on an free ebook resource, so I went to the homepage to see if I had trouble downloading something else, so I tried the first thing that caught my eye, which happened to be this biography of Mary Berry!

I eventually figured out how to work the site and download the book I wanted, but I figured I'd read this too as long as I had it checked out. I love The Great British Bake Off after all! Then again, I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't.

It was interesting to learn more about Mary Berry! She seems very charming and lovely, if a little unnecessarily old-fashioned. (Re: her views regarding women and the kitchen. Her husband can't even make tea because he doesn't know where anything is!)

But along with learning about Mary, there was an interesting range of topics explored, which were only peripherally related to her. Such as: the Delia Effect, which is the spike in sales of a product after being used by Delia Smith (or other celebrity chefs).

Also... the cult of the Aga! That chapter seemed to assume that I already knew what an Aga was. I did not. But I kind of pieced it together after reading an entire chapter about it. (It's an expensive oven that stays on all the time. Or something.) Was it really necessary to have a whole chapter about it? Sure, why not! It was kind of bizarre, but fascinating. And Mary swears by her Aga!

This was great to read right before bed. It was sweet and soothing (though the chapter about her son did make me cry).

[Sonia Etheridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you want to read about the history of Bath, Aga cookers, printing and other celebrities that Mary knew then this is the book for you. If you want to read totally about Mary Berry then stay away