VERA OTTERBOURNE-PEROVSKI DE REAULAIN

Vera was born in 1976 as the second daughter of Saphira Otterbourne and Comte Andrej Perovski de Reaulain. Her mother introduced her to nature's wondrous treasures: snake venom and practical plants like hemlock and deadly nightshade. Grandma Sidonie passed her love of botany on to her. Vera lived with her grandma for a while and they cultivated 'culinary herbs'. In 1996 Vera revolutionised the ecological food industry with her amazingly effective 'tea blends', but had to close down her business when the customers became addicted. She lives in the countryside somewhere in Connecticut and raised two children - Cécile and Julian - with Mario Cooper Clarke, the son of a British beat poet.