At Home with Kate: Growing up in Katharine Hepburn's Household (Hardcover)

by Eileen Considine-Meara (Author)
Key Phrases: lace cookies, Katharine Hepburn, New York, East Forty-ninth Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
It was celebrated gossip columnist Liz Smith who suggested that Considine-Meara collect all of the Katharine Hepburn memorabilia saved by her mother, Norah, during her 30 years as a cook, housekeeper, friend and confidante to the legendary actress. It's not dirty laundry that Considine-Meara airs here, though, but recipes and remembrances she and her mother shared with Hepburn and her famous friends, including Michael Jackson, Warren Beatty, Barbara Walters, Martina Navratilova and Lauren Bacall, all of whom enjoyed meals at their dinner table at 244 East 49th or at the actress' beloved Connecticut estate. These short, simple essays glow with fondness for the brassy actress, revealing the star's passion for sweets (especially brownies and lace cookies), gardening and spending time at home by the fireplace. In doing, she adds another delicate layer to Hepburn's biographical record, casting a warm light on the home life of a Hollywood legend, and making a fine, light alternative to the recently released 600-plus-page Kate. 85 b&w photos and 9 illustrations.
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Review
"Here are the memories, the people, the recipes that were closest to Kate Hepburn's heart—her extended family under the guidance of the great caretaker and cook Norah and Norah's loving Irish heirs. This is an unusual look from downstairs to upstairs at the long life of America's #1 female Oscar-winning star. You can never get closer to the great Kate than with this memoir/scrapbook/treasure trove of Hepburn goodies! A don't-miss for collectors."
—Liz Smith, syndicated columnist

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471783765
• ISBN-13: 978-0471783763
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #474,951 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sweetly Nostalgic Tribute to Hepburn Through Her Devoted Cook's Memories and Recipes, October 29, 2006

By	Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Food, Famous Folks, and a Strange, Gruff, Charming Boss, November 16, 2006

By	Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A WONDERFUL LOOK AT LIFE AT HOME WITH THE KATE WE LOVE!, October 19, 2006

By	J. Kruse "jknycgirl" (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!