Whatever Next?: Lessons from an Unexpected Life

The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller

‘This second volume of memoirs is as fascinating as the first….full of wit, joy, vivid vignettes and useful insights…she has another bestseller on her hands’ India Knight, Sunday Times

‘It’s great to have another memoir from Lady Glenconner … as open-minded and entertaining as she clearly is’ Lynn Barber, Sunday Telegraph

‘A jolly anecdote for every day of the year and excellent advice’ Hilary Rose, The Times

‘As glorious and highly readable as its predecessor - as well as being packed full of new stories’ ipaper

‘Full of eye-popping detail’ Sophia Money-Coutts, Daily Telegraph

‘Charm itself’ Spectator

’Anne Glenconner returns to charts her fascinating life and the hard-won lessons learnt in diplomacy, marriage and motherhood’ Tatler.com

Bracing honesty, rare insight and hilarious revelations from internationally bestselling author of LADY IN WAITING as she shares everything she’s learned from her extraordinary and unexpected life.

Anne Glenconner’s glittering life hasn’t always been golden. As she revealed in her astonishing bestselling memoir Lady in Waiting, it has been one of stark contrasts - from growing up in the splendour of Holkham Hall to living in a tent in the jungle of Mustique, from travelling the world with Princess Margaret to coping with her wildly unpredictable husband Lord Glenconner. Tragically, she has also survived the loss of two of her sons and nursed a third son back from a coma.

Now in her ninetieth year, and at her happiest, Anne brings her bracing honesty, characteristic wit and courage to reflect on and reveal more about her long and unexpected life, her extremely volatile marriage, and what it’s taught her.

As a wife, she became a master in the art of keeping the peace, knowing when to pick her battles, when she needed help - and when to take a lover. As a hostess, she acquired great practical skills in throwing marvellous parties and looking after magnificent homes, and, as a lady in waiting, became well versed in diplomacy and etiquette. It was as a mother she learnt the toughest lessons of all, and through them the value of friendship, family, and laughter to get her through the worst moments in life, as well as celebrate the best of them.
Anne Glenconner’s Whatever Next? is the richly entertaining proof that staying open to every new adventure and being ready for whatever happens sets an inspiring example for us all.