What do you think?
Rate this book
Being Old...and learning to love it!
'Few people have aged so gracefully and enterprisingly as Prue. How she's done it is a revelation, full of humour and practical advice.' - DELIA SMITH
'Oh my days, this book is an absolute JOY! Prue Leith has done it again she's served us wisdom, warmth and a whole lotta sass on a silver platter! Being Old... and Learning to Love It is like sitting down with your fabulous, straight-talking auntie who tells it exactly how it is... but with a big cuddle and a glass of something cheeky on the side. - ALISON HAMMOND
'Refreshing, honest and tremendously encouraging for those who are terrified of growing old.'
- ALAN TITCHMARSH
'We all are heading for old age, if we're lucky. It's a mystery for the young and hard to navigate for many of the elderly. Prue lays it all out for us, in her wonderful, honest, way.' - VIN + OMI
Getting older isn't for the faint-hearted - but it can be a lot of fun.
In this candid, uplifting, and funny book, Prue Leith explores the trials and taboos of growing older - along with its unexpected joys. Part memoir and part reflection, Being Old and Learning to Love It is packed with Prue's trademark wit, wisdom, and no-nonsense charm as she takes a spirited canter through the triumphs, challenges and surprises of ageing well.
Sometimes serious, often funny, and always engaging, Prue speaks with refreshing honesty about life as a modern woman in her eighties. Nothing is off from beauty, staying active and finding fame on The Great British Bake Off, to friendship, family, and the occasional regret. She tackles the big questions we all have about getting older - about time running out, dealing with grief, and her passionate belief in assisted dying - with the same frankness she brings to discussing finding love, the right time to retire, fashion, travel, and gardening.
Wise, witty, and wonderfully human, this book will inspire us all to face the challenges of ageing with good humour, pragmatism and confidence.
'Oh my days, this book is an absolute JOY! Prue Leith has done it again she's served us wisdom, warmth and a whole lotta sass on a silver platter! Being Old... and Learning to Love It is like sitting down with your fabulous, straight-talking auntie who tells it exactly how it is... but with a big cuddle and a glass of something cheeky on the side. - ALISON HAMMOND
'Refreshing, honest and tremendously encouraging for those who are terrified of growing old.'
- ALAN TITCHMARSH
'We all are heading for old age, if we're lucky. It's a mystery for the young and hard to navigate for many of the elderly. Prue lays it all out for us, in her wonderful, honest, way.' - VIN + OMI
Getting older isn't for the faint-hearted - but it can be a lot of fun.
In this candid, uplifting, and funny book, Prue Leith explores the trials and taboos of growing older - along with its unexpected joys. Part memoir and part reflection, Being Old and Learning to Love It is packed with Prue's trademark wit, wisdom, and no-nonsense charm as she takes a spirited canter through the triumphs, challenges and surprises of ageing well.
Sometimes serious, often funny, and always engaging, Prue speaks with refreshing honesty about life as a modern woman in her eighties. Nothing is off from beauty, staying active and finding fame on The Great British Bake Off, to friendship, family, and the occasional regret. She tackles the big questions we all have about getting older - about time running out, dealing with grief, and her passionate belief in assisted dying - with the same frankness she brings to discussing finding love, the right time to retire, fashion, travel, and gardening.
Wise, witty, and wonderfully human, this book will inspire us all to face the challenges of ageing with good humour, pragmatism and confidence.
Audible Audio
Published February 26, 2026
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
April 16, 2026
Girl who needs narrative cohesion anyway amiright?
What a weird lady. I like her very much
What a weird lady. I like her very much
April 20, 2026
Prue going on a vent sesh for 5 minutes, detailing how she’d design a bathtub that’s actually comfortable and practical because you can clearly tell they’ve all been designed by men who barely take baths is so real
April 26, 2026
Prue Leith is vivacious, colorful, and immensely talented. On the British food scene for nearly sixty years, she is a caterer, restaurateur, TV cook, food journalist, author of dozens of cookbooks and a novelist. Americans are perhaps most familiar with her as a judge on the Great British Bake Off from which she has recently retired.
What surprised me most in her story “Being Old and Larning to Love it” (part advice/part memoir) is her devotion to writing, especially novels; she has written eight novels and sixteen cookbooks. She declares, “The great thing about writing is that you can do it in old age. You have to resign from most committees and business boards in your seventies. And after three or four hours of cooking, I’m whacked, ready for my siesta. But one of the joys of writing, especially since the laptop was invented, is that you can do it anywhere. These days, as the pleasure of a comfy bed grows with old age, I often write in bed. I’m doing that now, lying with pillows behind my head and my knees up with the computer propped against them.” (90)
While she has let go of many of her obligations, she still enjoys producing Prue Leith: A Cotswold Kitchen, where I view her cooking, baking, gardening, and hilarious shenanigans, sometimes with her slightly younger husband, John Playfair. This book contains a glossary of photos, including her wall of necklaces, shaped like two trees, and, like her culinary arts, a feast for the eyes. And her melamine plates, streaked with brilliant dashes of color are available at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
What surprised me most in her story “Being Old and Larning to Love it” (part advice/part memoir) is her devotion to writing, especially novels; she has written eight novels and sixteen cookbooks. She declares, “The great thing about writing is that you can do it in old age. You have to resign from most committees and business boards in your seventies. And after three or four hours of cooking, I’m whacked, ready for my siesta. But one of the joys of writing, especially since the laptop was invented, is that you can do it anywhere. These days, as the pleasure of a comfy bed grows with old age, I often write in bed. I’m doing that now, lying with pillows behind my head and my knees up with the computer propped against them.” (90)
While she has let go of many of her obligations, she still enjoys producing Prue Leith: A Cotswold Kitchen, where I view her cooking, baking, gardening, and hilarious shenanigans, sometimes with her slightly younger husband, John Playfair. This book contains a glossary of photos, including her wall of necklaces, shaped like two trees, and, like her culinary arts, a feast for the eyes. And her melamine plates, streaked with brilliant dashes of color are available at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
March 27, 2026
Listened to the audiobook. Just like listening to your Grandma tell you stories about her life - wholesome and lovely
June 19, 2026
I really loved this book. The optimism and enjoyment that Prue Leith gets as she's heading into her 90s is amazing. And I think it's just the fact that she accepts things as they and actually enjoys things that she's allowed to now she's old.
She's definitely a cup half full kind of person and yet straight forward too. This is the way it is, don't dwell on it and move forwards. Even when she talks about things she regrets she sees them as things she would do differently if she had another chance.
She's definitely a cup half full kind of person and yet straight forward too. This is the way it is, don't dwell on it and move forwards. Even when she talks about things she regrets she sees them as things she would do differently if she had another chance.
March 9, 2026
Some time ago I read Prue Leith's autobiography, "Relish: My life on a Plate" - and gave it five stars.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
This, her latest book, covers a lot of the same ground, albeit that she is now eighty-six. She still has amazing charisma, energy and honesty, and she's still a real pleasure to read.
This book however really brought home to me that she was born with a whopping golden spoon in her mouth - and that spoon has been there throughout her life. She has great talent and drive, but she has also experienced a lot of exceptionally good fortune. When she was nineteen and learning to cook in France, her mother showed a close friend of hers one of Prue's letters. That friend happened to be the editor of Vogue in Johannesburg, and she commissioned Prue to start writing a regular column for her. Another time, when she was a lot older, she started a conversation with a man on a train - it turned out that he and his partner were fashion designers - and the next thing you know Prue is marching down the catwalk modelling some of his dresses. She started a company making crockery - and one of her plates is now on display in The Museum of Modern Art in New York. She also started a company making jewellery - and of course she well known for her wonderful necklaces. She was made Chancellor of Edinburgh university, and has been on the board of various large companies. This on top of opening a successful Michelin star restaurant in London, and two successful cookery schools, one in South Africa and the other in the UK. She's also done a lot of television work, most recently on The Great British Bake Off and its sister programme shown in America. Oh, and she's also written columns for about six national newspapers - some to do with cookery and some on other topics. On top of this she has written eight novels and forty-six cookery books. She also lives in a beautiful house in the Cotswolds, that she and her husband built for themselves, surrounded by acres of land that keep them well separated from hoi polloi.
At seventy-four, I'm a very average elderly woman. My life is goodish - but I'm forever traipsing off to the dentist and doctor with failing bits and pieces, and a lot of the time I feel absolutely knackered. I live in a squashed little terraced house, and I worry about the future (there's a whole bunch of new things to worry about as you get older...) I could do with a book that inspires me to get up in the morning and tackle life with a smile on my face. I thought that "Being Old and learning to love it!" sounded just the ticket. But no - rather this is the autobiography of a supersonic wonder woman, who's won the genetic jackpot and whose life has been thoroughly blessed by our ever capricious gods.
I think this is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Just don't expect it to change your life.
This, her latest book, covers a lot of the same ground, albeit that she is now eighty-six. She still has amazing charisma, energy and honesty, and she's still a real pleasure to read.
This book however really brought home to me that she was born with a whopping golden spoon in her mouth - and that spoon has been there throughout her life. She has great talent and drive, but she has also experienced a lot of exceptionally good fortune. When she was nineteen and learning to cook in France, her mother showed a close friend of hers one of Prue's letters. That friend happened to be the editor of Vogue in Johannesburg, and she commissioned Prue to start writing a regular column for her. Another time, when she was a lot older, she started a conversation with a man on a train - it turned out that he and his partner were fashion designers - and the next thing you know Prue is marching down the catwalk modelling some of his dresses. She started a company making crockery - and one of her plates is now on display in The Museum of Modern Art in New York. She also started a company making jewellery - and of course she well known for her wonderful necklaces. She was made Chancellor of Edinburgh university, and has been on the board of various large companies. This on top of opening a successful Michelin star restaurant in London, and two successful cookery schools, one in South Africa and the other in the UK. She's also done a lot of television work, most recently on The Great British Bake Off and its sister programme shown in America. Oh, and she's also written columns for about six national newspapers - some to do with cookery and some on other topics. On top of this she has written eight novels and forty-six cookery books. She also lives in a beautiful house in the Cotswolds, that she and her husband built for themselves, surrounded by acres of land that keep them well separated from hoi polloi.
At seventy-four, I'm a very average elderly woman. My life is goodish - but I'm forever traipsing off to the dentist and doctor with failing bits and pieces, and a lot of the time I feel absolutely knackered. I live in a squashed little terraced house, and I worry about the future (there's a whole bunch of new things to worry about as you get older...) I could do with a book that inspires me to get up in the morning and tackle life with a smile on my face. I thought that "Being Old and learning to love it!" sounded just the ticket. But no - rather this is the autobiography of a supersonic wonder woman, who's won the genetic jackpot and whose life has been thoroughly blessed by our ever capricious gods.
I think this is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Just don't expect it to change your life.
June 2, 2026
I just love her she's a ray of sunshine. I really hope I am this enthusiastic about life as she is in her 80's.
I had this an audiobook and its lovely to listen to!
I did like it but at times I did feel it was a bit preachy and I'm not sure why it was in the book? She talks about the body and not liking tattoos. Again, totally get it but I just felt that some things in this really did show her age but hey, that's what this book is about.
I also feel like her opportunities in life have been accessible coming from a good family. I'd love to be in a position where I could send my children to boarding school to focus on my working life during the week and give them all my attention at weekends but that isn't a reality for a lot of us. However, that said she isn't a snob by any means and I think she knows she's privileged. She also has worked hard to her credit I'll give her that.
With all of that said I think she's incredible as a person.
I had this an audiobook and its lovely to listen to!
I did like it but at times I did feel it was a bit preachy and I'm not sure why it was in the book? She talks about the body and not liking tattoos. Again, totally get it but I just felt that some things in this really did show her age but hey, that's what this book is about.
I also feel like her opportunities in life have been accessible coming from a good family. I'd love to be in a position where I could send my children to boarding school to focus on my working life during the week and give them all my attention at weekends but that isn't a reality for a lot of us. However, that said she isn't a snob by any means and I think she knows she's privileged. She also has worked hard to her credit I'll give her that.
With all of that said I think she's incredible as a person.
June 30, 2026
This series of essays on various topics connected with Prue Leith's life doesn't quite achieve what the title implies, since in many of them references to old age are kept to a minimum. However, when she's a great raconteur, who has led an interesting life full of incidents worth relating, does strict adherence to the title really matter? She doesn't take credit for an element of her success where it is actually due to another (named) individual and she is equally willing to acknowledge that luck has also played its part in her life. Both of these points give an honest, open feel to this autobiographical work. I loved the photo section.
May 7, 2026
I love Prue to bits, and enjoyed this memoir very much. If I were to meet Prue, though, I'd ask her about a glaring incongruity in this - she advocates for talking to strangers at a party or dinner because they might prove to be really interesting people and you might learn something! Yet she admits in the decades she lived with her late husband in the Cotwalds, they never got to know any of their neighbors or fellow villagers and consequently had no friends there "because I was afraid they might be conservatives" ... lol what? Come on, Prue. Good grief. I still love you though.
June 7, 2026
I’m a huge fan of The Great British Baking Show and it’s most colorful judge Prue Leith. This book was given to me and as a lover of memoirs and self-help books, this one seemed to fit the bill. While I am several decades younger than the author, I enjoyed her take on aging, the quest for curiosity and her unapologetic opinions, likes and dislikes. The chapters are short, her stories engaging and her advice pretty practical. It was a quick read and offers some interesting insights into aging well.
March 22, 2026
I listened to this on audio. I like Prue Leigh from watching her on British Baking Show and from another series she did on BBC. She admits she had lead a privileged life and her story telling professes that, but I still enjoyed her spirit and outlook on aging. Some may find her privilege annoying and at times it was a bit much but loving the upper British snobbery— I enjoyed it for what it was.
March 11, 2026
I loved hearing Prue tell her stories.
I've enjoyed her over many years. Now, with this book, it was interesting to learn more about her life.
I highly recommend the audiobook. It's 7h 47m and worth every minute!
I've enjoyed her over many years. Now, with this book, it was interesting to learn more about her life.
I highly recommend the audiobook. It's 7h 47m and worth every minute!
March 15, 2026
Having just seen Prue at a book event in Edinburgh this book is full of the anecdotes and stories she told there. An incredible woman with a very positive outlook on life"Being Old...and learning to love it"! Hope I'm as upbeat at 86yrs old!
May 11, 2026
I like Prue. She always seems honest and down to earth.
I learnt a lot about her businesses and writing that I did not know.
At the beginning of the book she says she is mainly going to rant about being old. And that she did :)
I learnt a lot about her businesses and writing that I did not know.
At the beginning of the book she says she is mainly going to rant about being old. And that she did :)
Read
February 19, 2026(read for work)
March 12, 2026
A delight. Fun and easy to listen to all of Prue's adventures and the added bonus was she read it with her delightful accent.
March 14, 2026
This was an easy to read, interesting book.
Prue is a positive woman so it’s a nice book, perfect for fans of the bake off to find out more about the host.
Prue is a positive woman so it’s a nice book, perfect for fans of the bake off to find out more about the host.
April 1, 2026
Who doesn’t love Prue. I love a memoir.
April 6, 2026
A light, fun read.
April 7, 2026
Prue has some out-there takes but hearing them in her sweet voice was such a mood booster
April 25, 2026
Enjoyed 109 pages, forget the rest
April 30, 2026
Interesting book
Listened on audible as Prue was reading it
Listened on audible as Prue was reading it
May 16, 2026
Loved it! Easy to read. Not preachy but rather amusing and inspirational in a fun way.
May 18, 2026
I love Prue from watching The Great British Bakeoff and enjoyed this memoir, a charming compilation of her musings on life and aging.
May 20, 2026
This was an entertaining read. Pure Leith is a popular gal. Though I enjoyed it, I found the privilege and hints of colonialism a bit uncomfortable.
May 28, 2026
A great memoir about getting older
May 31, 2026
Enjoyed hearing Prue talk about her life and muse about getting old. What an interesting and fearless woman.
June 19, 2026
Really really enjoyable and some excellent advice! 😊
June 24, 2026
Its about how she continues her privileged life in her mid 80s with lots of staff and lots of money
June 7, 2026
A quick read. Narrative read like someone talking or recounting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews