Mother Anguish

"In this candid memoir Basia lays bare the many vicissitudes of her youth and examines her tumultuous relationship with her mother; a dazzling, riotous and truly eccentric character with an explosive dark side. Following a bucolic childhood in rural Surrey among her extensive Polish family, Basia moved to London, living with her glamorous mother Camilla and a string of surrogate fathers. Abandoned to her own devices after Camilla’s remarriage, she quickly rose to become a teenage ‘it girl’ of high society, aspiring to marry into aristocracy. However, this was not to be, as an unplanned pregnancy and fall from grace led to her shelving any dreams of self-advancement and emigrating to Australia. Trapped in an unhappy marriage in a dismal and isolated suburb of Melbourne, her increasingly unhinged mother soon followed her and the situation deteriorated, leaving Basia surrounded by alcoholism, abuse and death while trying to protect her two young children. Following a narrow escape and lengthy custody proceedings, Basia’s story is one of redemption, as she has reclaimed the life that misfortune dispossessed and has been one of the leading lights of London society, and no stranger to the royal household, throughout the many years since."--Publisher's description.