Cook, writer and businesswoman Prue Leith has managed to squeeze in writing her autobiography, Relish, between myriad other commitments and finding time for her two grown-up children and two grandchildren.

In recent years, her no-nonsense approach as a judge in Great British Menu on BBC Two has attracted a new fan base, and she will be part of the glittering line-up at Chipping Norton Literary Festival, on the weekend of April 21 and 22, which also includes novelist Joanna Trollope.

Leith, 72, born in South Africa, had a privileged, happy childhood. When the family moved to London in the early 1960s she set up a successful catering company and later opened Leith’s Restaurant. Her autobiography charts her early amorous encounters and then her 13-year affair with South African writer Rayne Kruger, the husband of her mother's best friend. He eventually left his wife and married Leith two days before the birth of their son, Daniel. Soon after, they adopted a Cambodian daughter, Li-Da. She was married for 25 years until his death in 2002 and is now planning a trilogy of novels about a family in the restaurant trade, She lives at Chastleton, near Chipping Norton, and will be at Chipping Norton Methodist Hall on April 21. Relish: My Life On A Plate is published by Quercus at £16.99. Great British Menu is on Monday on BBC Two.