As well as being a mother (to the actresses Sophie and Emma Thompson) and a devoted carer to her own mother and mother-in-law, Phyllida Law is also a distinguished actress, and is the tale of her early acting career.As a young member of a travelling company, Phyllida learned to cope with whatever was thrown at her, from making her own false eyelashes to battling flammable costumes and rogue cockroaches. We find her in Mrs Miller's digs, which were shared with a boozy monkey bought from Harrods, an Afghan hound known as the 'the flying duster', several hens and various children.Filled with funny, charming anecdotes, paints a fascinating picture of life in the theatre - and at the heart of the story is an enchanting account of Phyllida's courtship with her future husband, the actor and writer Eric Thompson.
The charming, funny successor to the hugely popular 'Notes to my Mother-in-Law', from the inimitable Phyllida Law.Following Phyllida Law's wonderful and acclaimed 'Notes to my Mother-in-Law' - which comically and tenderly documented the author's relationship with her husband's mother who lived with the family for 17 years - we now have a chronicle of Phyllida's relationship with her own mother who suffered from dementia. Recently widowed, bringing up her own two daughters (actresses Emma and Sophie Thompson) and working as a successful actress herself, Phyllida went up and down to Scotland to spend as much time with her ailing mother as she could manage. During the period she kept a lively and frank journal noting many of the sad yet funny examples of her mother's faltering grip on reality. The journal includes reminiscences of her own childhood and the tragic death of her only brother.This book promises to be just as warm and moving as her first and will also be beautifully enhanced by the author's illustrations.
