At Home with Kate: Growing Up in Katharine Hepburn's Household [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

This is a charming, lightweight book from the daughter of Norah Considine, Katharine Hepburn's cook and housekeeper for the actress' last thirty years. If you are expecting a gossipy account of a legend's idiosyncratic habits and Grey Gardens-level eccentricities, it may disappoint you to find that author Eileen Considine-Meara's straightforward account is mostly free of such post-mortem image dismantling. The book is a memory-based portrait made up of short vignettes of particularly memorable evenings and occasions at either Hepburn's 49th Street townhouse in Manhattan or the her estate in Fenwick, Connecticut.

What I particularly appreciate about Considine-Meara's tome is that she doesn't make pretentious conclusions about Hepburn's life and what motivated her to live the independent life she led. Instead, one gets a palpable sense of a stay-at-home Hepburn's irascible spirit, for example, her pointed instructions on maintaining her prized gardens, not wasting food unnecessarily and serving five vegetables at every dinner. At the same time, the author provides specific chapters on the actress' generosity and the value she placed on friendships, in particular, within her inner circle and among her trusted staff. One enlightening anecdote is how Hepburn, through a dinner invitation after over two decades of silence, forgave Garson Kanin for sharing intimate details of her relationship with Spencer Tracy in a 1971 memoir. The account ends wistfully with the actress realizing how much she missed Kanin more than he missed her.

There are brief but telling snippets of visits, some no more than a page, from personalities as diverse as Irene Selznick, Jane Fonda, Martina Navratilova, Barbara Walters and Michael Jackson with none of the sidelong glances at the personal motivations which A. Scott Berg speculated upon in his immediate post-mortem biography of Hepburn, "Kate Remembered". Intriguingly, there is a brief chapter called "Biographies and Autobiographies" that hints at the veiled disappointment which Hepburn's intimates had with the timing of Berg's memoir. Sixteen recipes are included in the book and counted among Hepburn's favorites to serve to guests, primarily old-fashioned Yankee dishes like Fenwick meat loaf, creamed chipped beef on toast and Norah's lace cookies (an instant favorite of Sidney Poitier's). More importantly, the author does not blindly idolize the legend at the expense of her own dedicated mother, who obviously earned Hepburn's love and respect. The book is as much a tribute to her.

As a child growing up in France, I had little contact with American films or TV, but my mother spoke often of her friendship with the US actress Katharine Hepburn, who had served as a spokeswoman for the international relief agency CARE when my mother worked there.

Now comes Eileen Considine-Meara's life of her mother, the chef Norah, who worked for Ms. Hepburn for many years and who, apparently, too shy to write a book herself (or perhaps enjoined from doing so by contractual agreement) has passed on many tall tales to her daughter. Young Eileen practically grew up in the household, and helped out as a waitress from time to time, or did other tasks at the behest of the aging, famously independent screen star. Neither Eileen nor Norah knew Spencer Tracy, of course, for he died in the 1960s and Hepburn didn't hire Norah until 1972. Yet his presence was everywhere in both the NY townhouse and the Connecticut country estate. One of the brief chapters involves a visit paid to Hepburn by Susie Tracy, the daughter of Spencer and his longsuffering wife. As grand as a movie star herself, Susie Tracy could have been an outstanding supermodel or politician, but she preferred to work quietly. in the shadows, helping deaf people the world over.

Yes, Norah and Eileen met hundreds of fascinating folk from all walks of life. Stephen Sondheim lived next door, kept a polite distance from Hepburn. Michael Jackson and Warren Beatty paid visits, not together. But Hepburn so craved adulation that she was not above inviting fans and plain old stalkers in off of the streets, like the parable of Dives and Lazarus in the Bible. And every year she let Norah have a huge St Patrick's Day party in her townhouse, vacating the space for awhile.

Old friends Irene Mayer Selznick and Laura Harding make cameo appearances in this book. Harding, with whom other biographers have asserted Katharine Hepburn was involved sexually, seems like a nice enough soul in old age, liked Norah's cooking and one dessert especially, Norah's famous lemon jello. In my test kitchen at home, I've tried to make several of Norah's recipes, feeling with some justice, if they were good enough for Katharine Hepburn, they should be good enough for my own circle of theatrical friends. Alas, I just don't have the touch, for Norah's famous lace cookies that so entranced Sidney Poitier, were a flop when I served them to Sidney Potrero of Daly City, and chipped creamed beef on toast, the dish Jack Larson demanded on each of his visits from Hollywood, proved a sensational failure in my south of market kitchenette. I can't even describe what it looks like.

An exciting book with many nice touches, like a floor map of the 49th Street townhouse, and a photo of Eileen and her groom on their wedding day in which you can see exactly the Irish spitfire charm that made her a favorite of her mother's Oscar winning employer.

As a huge fan of Kate this book is a wonderful look at her life at home showing what a truly strong, independent, generous and thoughtful woman she was.

There really is no other place where a person is more comfortable than at home and Eileen Considine-Meara captures the essence of Kate at home beautifully....from amusing and touching anecdotes and treasured Considine family photos and memorabilia to featured recipes of some of Ms. Hepburn's favorite dishes. Considine-Meara marvelously reveals Kate's generous friendship and caring nature with her friends and family -- as well as just about anyone that entered Kate's life.

AT HOME WITH KATE is an intimate portrait of one of our greatest actresses, At Home and as herself.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!