Entertaining in Style: Nancy Astor and Nancy Lancaster: Table Settings, Recipes, Flower Arrangements, and Decorating

Author Jane Churchill and Emily Astor, Foreword by Bob Colacello, Photographs by Andrew Montgomery

This book showcases timeless recipes and inspirations for the perfect party from cousins Nancy Astor and celebrated interior designer Nancy Lancaster, both renowned in twentieth-century Britain for entertaining with style, sophistication, and joie de vivre.

Featuring original photography that highlights glam-orous menus, interior décor, table settings, and flower arrangements, this book is an homage to joyful entertaining in the English country house style. Nancy Astor and Nancy Lancaster, both born American, were renowned as two of Britain’s greatest party-givers, excelling at gracious entertaining, witty repartee, and above all sophisticated menus—talents rooted in their upbringing at Mirador, their Albemarle County, Virginia, family estate known for its superb food.

The recent discovery of the original Mirador recipe collection, together with materials from Astor’s and Lancaster’s archives, provides the basis for this book, a collaboration between descendants of both women. With 75 recipes, the book showcases menus that combine classic English dishes with Southern Amer-ican classics such as corn fritters, fried chicken, and Pullman salad.

Photographed at Cliveden, Nancy Astor’s country house, and Nancy Lancaster’s several homes, the book features the family’s original china, silver, and décor. Peppered throughout are previously unseen family photographs.

About The Author

Jane Churchill, interior designer, is great-niece of Nancy Astor and Nancy Lancaster’s cousin. Emily Astor, photographer, is Nancy Astor’s granddaughter. Bob Colacello, long-time editor of Interview, writes for Vanity Fair. Andrew Montgomery, photographer, has published in Country Living, House & Garden, and Vanity Fair.

Publish Date: February 15, 2022
Format: Hardcover
Category: Cooking - Entertaining
Publisher: Rizzoli
Trim Size: 9-3/8 x 11-6/8
Pages: 160
US Price: $40.00
CDN Price: $55.00
ISBN: 978-0-8478-7144-5

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Reviews

"If taste could be inherited, Jane Churchill, one of London’s most prominent interior designers for more than four decades, was born with a fortune. Nancy Astor was her great-great-aunt, and the grandmother of Emily Astor, co-author of the new book Entertaining in Style: Nancy Astor and Nancy Lancaster—Table Settings, Recipes, Flower Arrangements, and Decorating. Nancy Lancaster was also Jane’s great-aunt. Both women were renowned hostesses of their time and are still revered as icons of style to this day." —AIRMAIL.COM

"Whether you're a seasoned party-thrower adept at managing dinner, cocktails, and even impromptu backyard barbecues for 10 or 20 guests or a total novice with barely a grown-up social gathering under your belt, there's something valuable to be learned from the pros of bygone years; this is especially true when we're thinking about the entertaining experts who wined and dined guests with enviable panache. Entertaining in Style: Nancy Astor and Nancy Lancaster: Table Settings, Recipes, Flower Arrangements, and Decorating, co-authored by cousins Jane Churchill and Emily Astor, invites us to take cues from the tables of two of the 20th century's most esteemed hostesses and icons of style. Photographed at Cliveden, Nancy Astor's historic country house outside of London, and her niece Nancy Lancaster's many magnificent English country houses, this transporting collaboration also gives us a window into the privileged world of these formidable women. And what a world it was." —MARTHA STEWART ONLINE

“The book includes original recipes from Mirador in Virginia, where they grew up, and the wonderful [British] houses they owned, Cliveden, Kelmarsh Hall, Ditchley Park, and Haseley Court,” Churchill says. “So much had been written about them, like Nancy Astor’s commitment to women’s rights, and Nancy Lancaster’s incredible influence on the world of interior design, but we wanted people to know about their extraordinary energy, personalities, and the fact that Emily [Astor’s granddaughter] and I knew them really well.” —THE DIGITAL PARTY

Author Bookshelf: Bob Colacello