“As you know, when life is everything I want it to be, the part of me that thrives on a challenge is always looking ahead to the next one --- the puzzle that keeps me thinking, the problem I want to solve, the goal I’d do anything to accomplish, the idea that sticks in my head and gets my adrenaline pumping.”

Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa, has created a global brand that she built off a small shop in the Hamptons. After finding her job at the White House Office of Management and Budget boring and unfulfilling, she and her husband, the famous Jeffrey for whom she first made her foolproof Engagement Chicken, bought an existing shop already adorned with her nickname and found the life she always wanted to have.

"BE READY WHEN THE LUCK HAPPENS is an eminently readable and memorable look at one woman’s striving to accomplish her dreams and succeeding through hard work, intelligence and a fight for equal rights."

Most people who love Ina and her many beautiful, uncomplicated, delicious cookbooks don’t know where her chutzpah, professionalism and perseverance came from. BE READY WHEN THE LUCK HAPPENS answers those questions for readers. However, they will be surprised to hear all about her sad and lonely childhood and her need to please her parents, to whom she was just another asset in the superficial perfection they attempted in Stamford, Connecticut.

Ina’s initial meeting with Jeffrey through her brother’s friend at Dartmouth changed her life. If half of what she says about Jeffrey is true, he is the most perfect spouse anyone could ever have. Although their marriage has been through its own trials, it is a sustained and truly equal partnership of two people with different needs who accommodate themselves and their partner in the best of ways. This actually could be a marriage guide given all the detail she offers in her very honest accounting of their life.

Ina’s climb was not overnight. Her business sense, her love for all the people who have helped her along the way, and her generous and kind spirit are evident in her conversational and gratitude-filled text. Her demeanor on television is reinforced here, and her many fans will find that her stories are as accessible and enjoyable as her demonstrations are.

BE READY WHEN THE LUCK HAPPENS also could be a business manual. Ina’s growth of her business and the travails that led to her eventual success offer something that isn’t as prevalent in how we look at small business economics anymore. Growing a business slowly while learning along the way will seem like a revelation to those who think that it explodes overnight because of pretty branding and a gorgeous influencer. This is how you create an empire, brick by brick.

The personal revelations Ina offers are definitive and honest. The matter-of-fact way that she tells her life story makes her an appealing and interesting protagonist. She is a relatable woman, talking about growing up in the oppressive ’50s and ’60s and candidly looking at her upsetting relationship with her parents. The fervor with which she writes about her courtship with and marriage to Jeffrey is incredibly touching. The accounts of her business ups and downs are inspiring. And the sense of a woman breaking barriers gives the narrative a strong and unshakable foundation as a feminist success story.

Without the struggles, Ina’s story would not be as inventive or appealing. Second-generation immigrant families like Ina’s and Jeffrey’s offer a serious appreciation of the hard work and dreams of millions of men and women who have enriched the American landscape. BE READY WHEN THE LUCK HAPPENS is an eminently readable and memorable look at one woman’s striving to accomplish her dreams and succeeding through hard work, intelligence and a fight for equal rights. Brava!