
No Invitation Required
The Pelham Cottage Years
Annabel Goldsmith(Author)
Weidenfeld & Nicolson (Publisher)
Published on 12. November 2009
Book
Hardback
192 pages
978-0-297-85451-7 (ISBN)
Description
Lady Annabel Goldsmith is a daughter of the 8th Marquess of Londonderry. The family fortunes were based on coal-mining. In her enthralling memoirs she told of her aristocratic upbringing with an increasingly eccentric father, a Conservative MP with strong liberal leanings, and a mother who died young from cancer. Her personal account of marrying Mark Birley at 20, the creation of Annabel's Club in Berkeley Square, and then her affair and later marriage to entrepreneur Sir James Goldsmith, enthralled many readers. The club was a huge success from the beginning and remains so into its fourth decade. Annabel had three children with Goldsmith, including Jemima, Zac and Ben, who married into the Rothschild family. But tragedy was never far away: Rupert, her eldest son, died in an accident, and Goldsmith died from cancer after financing a campaign of candidates opposed to the John Major line on the EU at the 1997 general election.
This book elegantly describes, in intimate and perceptive essays, pen-portraits of some of the extraordinary figures that entered the Birley and Goldsmith circles - among them, Lord Lambton, Patrick Plunket, John Aspinall, Geoffrey Keating, Lord Lucan, Dominic Elwes and Claus von Bulow. The richness of the narrative is in the particular detail and observation which only a true insider can record.
This book elegantly describes, in intimate and perceptive essays, pen-portraits of some of the extraordinary figures that entered the Birley and Goldsmith circles - among them, Lord Lambton, Patrick Plunket, John Aspinall, Geoffrey Keating, Lord Lucan, Dominic Elwes and Claus von Bulow. The richness of the narrative is in the particular detail and observation which only a true insider can record.
Reviews / Votes
"she still lives there, in a way, and remembers it with warmth and charm" -- Lewis Jones THE SPECTATOR "a jolly little serving of gossip and laughs from the matron of London's decadencia" THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY "Killjoys should avoid this book: it convinces us that life, despite its heartbreaks, is tremendous fun" -- Belinda Harley DAILY MAILMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Orion Publishing Co
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 142 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
405 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-297-85451-7 (9780297854517)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
11/2009
1st Edition
Weidenfeld and Nicholson
€3.99
Available for download
Previous edition

Book
11/2009
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
€36.11
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Lady Annabel Goldsmith is a daughter of the 8th Marquess of Londonderry and her name is indelibly associated with the London nightclub 'Annabel's.