When 20-year-old Nina leaves Leicestershire to take up a position in London she finds herself sharing no ordinary life. Her charges are Sam and Will, the sons of the film director Stephen Frears and Mary-Kay Wilmer, editor of the London Review of Books . Alan Bennett is an almost permanent supper guest – Nina assumes "he must get bored writing plays on his own all day"; other visitors include George Melly, Willie Carson, Claire Tomalin and Delia Smith. Their domestic ups and downs are lovingly outlined in this collection of letters Nina wrote to her sister over the course of five years at 55 Gloucester Crescent. From her account of the cat nobody likes, and a dog called Ted Hughes, to her many culinary adventures with turkey mince, this is a funny, touching account of family life that will strike a chord with every parent – and dinner guest.
