helena frith powell

  • Lifestyle
  • Women
  • Beauty
  • France
  • Contact

Life without the ferals

12th July 2009 by Helena 5 Comments  

As I write the girls are in a Gondola in Venice. My aunt has declared them “very elegant” and says they have a “frenetic timetable”. They are having a lovely time and Olivia can now say ‘che bello mare blu’ which will come in very useful. Or rather more useful than her father’s only phrase in German which is ‘the houses over there are covered with snow’. Especially if you live in Abu Dhabi.

Life in Abu Dhabi without the ‘ferals’ as the girls have been nicknamed by friends in England is extremely quiet. Leonardo always was an easy child. I find as long as you are willing to play cricket, tennis, catch or football with him he is perfectly happy with life. Yesterday I got slightly fed up with immitating Flintoff so recruited his friend Miranda to join us. This is a picture of them going to camp together this morning.

leo-and-miranda.jpg

I am so happy the girls are having a nice time. I am less happy that I hear all their news second hand (my aunt no longer speaks to me because of my memoir Ciao Bella). But I am relieved that she has seen their elegant, rather than their feral, side…..

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2009


Filed Under: Children, Italy, blog --> Tagged With: ferals, without

5 thoughts on Life without the ferals

  • Anna says:
    12th July 2009 at 10:04 pm

    What displeased her about the memoir?

  • helena says:
    13th July 2009 at 3:44 am

    She didn’t like my portrayal of her. I was possibly too honest but thought I had counterbalanced that with the affection I feel for her and also humour. It would not have been as good a book watered down so in that sense I don’t regret it.
    Hx

  • Elena says:
    13th July 2009 at 8:19 am

    Hope your girls engoy every minute of their trip!
    PS I absolutely love the picture!!

  • Anna says:
    13th July 2009 at 3:32 pm

    I’ve been waiting for the book from Amazon for a while now – for some reason there’s a delay. I’m looking forward to reading it.

  • mimi says:
    13th July 2009 at 11:46 pm

    Yes, I agree, fabulous picture!
    I know what you mean about the house being quiet without them, I’m blogging about it tomorrow!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi-based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor-in-chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. She is working on a thriller set in Sweden as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

In 2022 her short story The Japanese Gardener came second in the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. One of her stories was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. When she’s not writing, she works as a headhunter for the media and entertainment industry for the Sucherman Group. 

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

© 2023 Helena Frith Powell
Website by Web Inclusion
/* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: content-template-for-layout-for-header-and-footer-layout - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .helenaHero .mainTitle h1{ font-size:3em; -webkit-transition: all 0.8s; -moz-transition: all 0.8s; -ms-transition: all 0.8s; -o-transition: all 0.8s; transition: all 0.8s; margin-top:-100%; padding-top:100px; padding-bottom:50px; margin:0; } .scrolled .helenaHero .mainTitle h1{ font-size:1.2em; padding-top:30px; padding-bottom:20px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: content-template-for-layout-for-header-and-footer-layout - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17hfp_about - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .HFPA-section{ width:100%; background:#eee; } .HFPA-Image{ background-position:center right; background-repeat:no-repeat; height:276px; width:100%; -webkit-filter: grayscale(100%); /* Safari 6.0 - 9.0 */ filter: grayscale(100%); } .HFPA-Text{ padding:20px 10px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17hfp_about - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17footer - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .footIt{ background:#222; padding:20px 10px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17footer - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */