Consider Yourself Kissed
And a few other things I've been reading about
Sometimes (all the time) I over think what I am doing and I second guess and question everything. Like sharing parts of my life online. It’s weeks like this that I think I will stick to writing about things I read or listen to instead. So straight to it…
READING
On reading the opening page of this book I thought I couldn’t do it. Another mother leaving her children?* But last time this happened (Mother Tongue by Naima Brown) I loved it so much that I persisted. Again.
I also persisted because I follow
on Substack and I have one of those para-social relationships with her where I think I know her. In the beginning I found the storyline moved really fast and I kind of missed the slow storytelling I sometimes cling to - but the more I read the more accustomed I became to the style and I came to understand how important it was to the story.
Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley isn’t just a book about a mother leaving her children as much as it is a book about Brexit and the UK leaving the EU, about a man abandoning his family commitments in pursuit of a job that feeds his ego, about how families leave each other scarred and affected and about how a woman becomes unravelled as all the roles she has seen herself in leave her. It is a book about leaving but it’s also a book about family and unity and love and as you read you become more embroiled in Coralie’s life so that by the time you get to her leaving her children, you don’t really think she’s leaving her children but saving herself.
I don’t think I am explaining this very well so now you have to read the book to do it justice. Because Jessica Stanley REALLY does it justice. It’s the kind of book you will think about long after you have finished the last page. It’s the kind of book that will make you think about motherhood and mental load and how we make families work.
*its a thing because the book I am reading at the moment also starts the same way! *makes note to call therapist*
THINGS THAT CAUGHT MY EYE
Cannot stop watching this reel which would definitely be me making a reel if I ever actually made a reel
Squardle has replaced (or joined) my New York Times puzzles addiction
Some of the best (and most stressful) working memories of my life are from my time at Mamamia in the very early days when it was just me, Mia, Nicky, Nat, Lucy and Rick. I remember interviewing
for the job when she was little more than a teenager at an internet cafe in Bali. Now Lucy is 37 , has just dealt with breast cancer and started sharing her ‘year of healing’ on Substack. I suggest you give her a follow.I am not a Met Gala person but was fascinated to read about this year’s theme - dandyism as explained in this Vogue piece. “This year’s theme is a direct acknowledgment of the influence that Black culture—particularly Black fashion—has had on shaping the broader fashion landscape” and I can’t think of a better time to be focussing on Black culture in the US where Donald Trump seems to be removing any sense of progress. Never thought I’d be hailing Anna Wintour as a spokesman but here we are…
Have long loved Go-To products but thought they were definitely not made for people of my age because, really who could read their packaging? So I was interested to see this
Sorry (or you’re welcome) for the different style post. Might be a new thing… Let me know what you think
See you next week
Lana
Happy to hear from you! You know I like the more-info updates though I can understand if you’re not up to it every week. The lead up to the federal election was hard, and my election anxiety was high on the day, especially as I was handing out for the ALP. I am relieved.
🩷