Fern: My Story - Fern Britton

From the age of seven, I have had a growing ambition to become a TV Presenter. It's something that has been a part of my life for so long now, that it seems only natural. So it goes without saying that I idolise a fair few TV Presenters themselves! I have a select few of these idols which mean the most to me, and one of them is Fern Britton.

Fern Britton is a British TV Presenter, born in 1957. She presents various shows from time ...
...and Mrs. Though she is best known for co-presenting This Morning, which she has been doing so since 1999, alongside Phil Schofield. This is as we know her now, but what was Fern's life like before she came into our view? Now we can explore her life in her autobiography, 'Fern: My Story'.

My Story was released back in November 2008, and I did plan on buying it, but didn't manage to get round to it. Thankfully though, my friend bought ... more

From the age of seven, I have had a growing ambition to become a TV Presenter. It's something that has been a part of my life for so long now, that it seems only natural. So it goes without saying that I idolise a fair few TV Presenters themselves! I have a select few of these idols which mean the most to me, and one of them is Fern Britton.

Fern Britton is a British TV Presenter, born in 1957. She presents various shows from time to time, including the British Soap Awards, and All-Star Mr and Mrs. Though she is best known for co-presenting This Morning, which she has been doing so since 1999, alongside Phil Schofield. This is as we know her now, but what was Fern's life like before she came into our view? Now we can explore her life in her autobiography, 'Fern: My Story'.

My Story was released back in November 2008, and I did plan on buying it, but didn't manage to get round to it. Thankfully though, my friend bought me a copy for Christmas, which was a fantastic surprise! It looked quite attractive, sitting in front of me. The cover is a shiny black, with an image of Fern's face on the front. As she is wearing a black shirt, it blends in with the cover. In large writing, it says 'Fern', though my friend did think it said 'Terin', which is now what we call her! Underneath it said 'my story'. I like the word 'my' there - just shows it is an autobiography before you even pick it up. I have something against biographies, I just can't see how somebody other than the person themselves can provide us with an accuracy account of their life. It's just not happening! On the back I looked for a blurb, but instead I found a beautiful photo of Fern when she was a little girl, standing in her swimming costume, smiling away. She looked incredibly happy; a carefree little girl with only her fun to concentrate on. But was this going to be a story full of smiles?

When you open up the book, and pass the sweet little dedication Fern has left to the ones closest to her heart, and cross over the contents page, you come to a small section, just a few pages long. This is written in italics, making it stand out. This is Fern telling us about her present situation in life, which helps us to understand her way of feeling at the moment and can reflect upon the parts of the book later to come. You will find Fern brings us back to the present at the end of each chapter, informing us of her life now too, which helps to add a nice contrast between 'then and now'.

The book is split into eighteen chapters, from which we learn a lot about Fern's past. It starts off by taking us right back to when Fern was born, straight away with the mention of her father, and we soon learn that she did not see a lot of him as a child. I think that this reflection back to him right at the start shows Fern wishes she had more constant contact with him. Just a thought, but she does talk quite positively towards him throughout. We also learn about her relationship with her mother and stepfather, as well as her older sister Cherry. It was quite interesting to hear the way Fern's life was like when she was just a child, as it was something I had never thought about.

As Fern grows older, we follow her through her journey through education and right through to her career. Although she studied Stage Management, it was not long before she turned to TV Presenting after being offered a job. I especially enjoyed reading about the early stages of her career, as since this is the profession I want to follow, it gives me some help with ideas to worm my way in. We learn quite a lot about her first jobs and the pressures she was under.

Things seem rosy but soon everything starts to plummet for Fern. She talks emotionally about bad relationships and uneasy workloads, and before you know it, you are reading deep into her story of depression. It must have been incredibly difficult for her to write about that time of her life, and I admire her even more now for that. A lot of the things she has suffered from I can relate to, so it is quite an emotional and moving read.

But things do not stay negative till the end, as we find out about her happy turn-around when she met her husband, Phil Vickery, and now has what seems like such a cosy little family life with her children. Of course, she may be lying through her teeth; this may not be how it really ends, but this I doubt!

There are a selection of photos in the book too. There is one at the start of each chapter, which relates to what is written in it. In the middle there are several glossy white pages mounted with more photos. There are some in particular which I like such as a snap from her fiftieth birthday party, and one from her wedding day too. They are very colourful and cheerful pictures, which is always nice!

The book is published by Penguin; a well-known book company, giving us the impression of a top quality read straight away. It is a nice length too; 360 pages spread throughout the eighteen chapters. It took me a month to read it, but I didn't read at all for quite a large period in the middle. I could read a chapter in about fifteen minutes. They are a good length and do not drag out.

The book has an RRP of £19 and I will be the first to admit that it's an extortionate price, even for Fern Britton! At Christmas time it was priced at around £9, and as far as I am aware it has yet to go back up to its original! You can buy it in most good book shops, including Waterstones and WHSmith, and from Amazon and suchlike too.

If you are a fan of either Television or Fern Britton, or just autobios in general, then this is definitely worth a read! It is a heart-aching story of Fern's life, with great incite to her career,and is not one to browse past!

© Amy 2009 

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