Nigella Lucy Lawson (born 6 January 1960) is an English journalist, broadcaster, television personality, gourmet, and food writer. She is the daughter of Nigel Lawson, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Vanessa (née Salmon) Lawson, whose family owned the J. Lyons and Co. food and catering business. After graduating from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, Lawson started work as a book reviewer and restaurant critic, later becoming the deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times in 1986. She then embarked upon a career as a freelance journalist, writing for a number of newspapers and magazines. In 1998, she brought out her first cookery book, How to Eat, which sold 300,000 copies and became a best-seller. She wrote her second book in 2000, How to Be a Domestic Goddess, which won her the British Book Award for Author of the Year.