{"title":"Maureen Owen","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"to-set-before-a-queen-book-maureen-owen-9780852445587","title":"To Set Before a Queen","description":"Alma McKee, cook to both Her Majesty the Queen and the late Queen Mother, was working for the Queen and Prince Philip at Clarence House at the time of the Accession. Mrs McKee recounts that when the Queen moved to Buckingham Palace she asked her to write down a selection of her recipes: the origins of this book. Mrs McKee, a Swede by birth, had trained as a young girl at Horningshom Castle in Sweden. She came to work in England in the period between the First and Second World Wars, and married the Scotsman, Jimmy McKee, who was himself a butler. Here is a unique collection of recipes with a Scandinavian flavour that vividly evoke life upstairs and downstairs in the royal households, full of anecdote and sharp insights into a hidden world. This is an era when at Court the lingering majesty of Empire was still mingled with post-war austerity, though already the first glimpses of a new Britain and a new social order with very different values are to be seen. When working for ex-King Peter and Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia, Mrs McKee had made her name with her resourceful and economical cooking, constrained by wartime rationing and the relative poverty of her employers. At Clarence House, with the resources of the royal estates at her disposal for the supply of cream, game, poultry and vegetables, she was to cook meals enjoyed by most of the crowned heads of Europe, politicians and a host of distinguished guests. Her recipes are spiced with her tales of the great and famous and of the not so famous - from Prince Charles' childhood passion for Swedish meatballs to large policemen sheltering in her kitchen from persecution by the royal corgis. Mrs McKee reveals the secrets of a royal cook, from simple tips to menu planning. Her matter-of-fact approach and sensible presentation of cooking in a grand manner, offer us all the opportunity to share in the style enjoyed by the Queen and the Royal Family. With this book we can all create a dinner party to set before a Queen. Maureen Owen, a London journalist covering royal affairs at the time of the Accession and Coronation, was also a fashion reporter on the News Chronicle. After chance meeting, she was to become a life-long friend of Mrs McKee, and a frequent visitor to the royal households. She worked with Mrs McKee on her recipe books, and has now brought all Mrs McKee's recipes and anecdotes together in one volume.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49515441881361,"sku":"GOR001309409","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50363865301265,"sku":"CIN085244558XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51008942670097,"sku":"NIN9780852445587","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51242441507089,"sku":"GOR003768795","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52135085801745,"sku":"NLS9780852445587","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53688029970705,"sku":"GOR008756415","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/085244558X.jpg?v=1750747243"},{"product_id":"crazy-gang-book-maureen-owen-9780297789871","title":"Crazy Gang","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49551644164369,"sku":"GOR002295243","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49626050789649,"sku":"GOR001360491","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51070119379217,"sku":"GOR001592412","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0297789872.jpg?v=1751227947"},{"product_id":"let-the-heart-hold-down-the-breakage-or-the-caregiver-s-log-book-maureen-owen-9781934909720","title":"Let the Heart Hold Down the Breakage or the Caregiver's Log","description":"\u003cp\u003eA hybrid work of poetry and prose journal entries. Maureen Owen's caretaker's log documents a mother's death and dying. A faithful transcription of amothers remembered life rendered with true emotion. This magnificent work dwells in the struggle between death and dying, writes Fanny Howe. The poet is the one who balances this weird difficulty. She is the caregiver keeping both alive. Through nights where days of dying begin with tissues, toothpicks, cries, pillows, sheets; the caregiver's offerings to the patient never quite work. The panic of hitting nightfall with its galloping horses, rodeos and racetracks, and the Southwest ranges try to stay as truthful to the mother as they are to the daughter transcribing them, until these darkest of lyrics lie in the realm of the divine.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49622930358545,"sku":"GOR013164097","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50395674837265,"sku":"CIN1934909726G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1934909726.jpg?v=1751062655"},{"product_id":"poets-on-the-road-book-maureen-owen-9781947951709","title":"Poets on the Road","description":"\u003cb\u003eCalling to mind\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eBasho¯'s\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003elate life journeys through the backcountry of Japan, two women poets in a well-worn Honda hit the road for a legendary pilgrimage in a far-flung (pre-pandemic) landscape of American poetry.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Although a road trip across North American calls to mind Jack Kerouac's youthful meanderings of self-discovery, this reading tour was more in the manner of Basho¯'s late life journeys through the backcountry of Japan. . . . The road trip was in a sense a pilgrimage of reengagement with their calling as poets, and a chance to reacquaint with like-minded friends, old and new, in a far-flung landscape of American poetry.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Venues would include upscale bookstores, coffee houses, museums, legendary used bookstores, botanical gardens, university classrooms, art centers, and artist coops--in short, a unique sampling of poetry environments tracing an arc across the Southern States, the Southwest, and up the West Coast before hooking back to the Rockies.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Framed as a personal challenge, the poets hit the road much in the manner of itinerant preachers and musicians, lodging at discount motels, funky hostels, Airbnbs, and with friends along the way. Adding a social media touch, Maureen and Barbara created a blog of their tour so that friends, family, hosts, and fellow poets might also share in their adventure.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e ­--from the Introduction by Pat Nolan","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51056487596305,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51056490119441,"sku":"NIN9781947951709","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/194795170X.jpg?v=1751348280"},{"product_id":"erosion-s-pull-book-maureen-owen-9781566891844","title":"Erosion's Pull","description":"Owen's perceptive reports on the business of living resonate with humor, energy, and wisdom.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52685120864529,"sku":"NLS9781566891844","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781566891844.jpg?v=1762324743"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-maureen-owen.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}