The Duchess of Duke Street.

As much fun as the television series, if not more so! A few typos and inconsistencies in the text (e.g.: in the show, the Louisa character has flaming red hair, whereas in the novel it is once described as dark brown), but I feel that that just gives the book character :) A must-read for fans of The Queen of Cooks!

This is a great BBC series from 1976. This author isn't mentioned on the DVD cover. Perhaps the series is based on other material. According to Wikipedia: The Duchess Of Duke Street is a BBC television drama series set in London between 1900 and 1935. It was created by John Hawkesworth, the former producer of the highly successful ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. It starred Gemma Jones as Louisa Trotter, the eponymous "Duchess" who works her way up from servant to renowned cook to proprietrix of the upper-class Bentinck Hotel in Duke Street, Marylebone, in London.

The story is loosely based on the real-life career of Rosa Lewis (née Ovenden), the "Duchess of Jermyn Street", who ran the Cavendish Hotel in London. When the show show more first aired, there were many people who still remembered her, as she lived until 1952. According to census returns, she was born in Leyton, Essex, to a watchmaker. In the series, Louisa's family name is Leyton, and her father is a clock-maker. show less