‘It’s a shame Adèle Geras moved away from Manchester,’ sighed Mrs Moomin. We had lunch together yesterday, despite it being Friday the 13th. I’m always a bit startled when conversations go in unexpected directions, and I forget that Mrs Moomin knew Adèle for ages, living near her. Considering my limited social life, I’m surprised I have managed to know two people who separately know Adèle.
Mrs Moomin and I were at a Swedish lunch, doing our best to avoid being 13 at the table, and managed something like 14 1/2. Borås Girl hosted, and we all brought some food. (To tell the truth, I didn’t do well. I ran out of time, so offered the bare minimum pilfered from my freezer.) These ladies are seriously good at cooking and baking. There was even Swede salad.
OK, if I can just tear my thoughts away from the cheesecake, I’ll get to Borås Girl’s Swedish speaking Estonian friend, Mrs Linguist, whom she met at her German class. I’ve been passing Swedish DVDs for BG to lend her friend, and felt I ‘knew’ her slightly, so it was good to chat when we met. As civilised people we swapped business cards, and that’s when she worked out we had already been in contact with each other.
I am very forgetful, but recalled sending a perfect stranger some pages from an Astrid Lindgren book a few years ago. (No, I didn’t tear them out. I copied.) Mrs Linguist was the perfect stranger, introduced by Professor Linguistics who reckoned I was the likeliest person she knew who would own a copy of the Bullerby book. Very astute.
So that was nice. More coincidences.
Mrs Linguist was accompanied by Baby Linguist (who, quite frankly, was not too keen on all those cackling women), and her visiting Estonian Mother. None of us could muster up any Estonian, but Mrs Moomin spoke to her in Finnish. And that’s something I didn’t know. That many Estonians understand Finnish, because for years that was their escape from ‘Russian only’ television.
The rest of the ladies concentrated on passing round a couple of battered Swedish crime paperbacks by Mari Jungstedt, and a Swedish DVD, before going gaga over Brian Cox, because he’s so cute… (He wasn’t there, btw. We happened to slip onto the subject of Astrophysics, after which there was no stopping them.)
We were temporarily saved by the aforementioned cheesecake. I’m going to need the recipe.
It is a great shame that Adele moved away from Manchester…not least because she used to organised jolly lunches for writers at The Cornerhouse (without cheesecake but with good company) and since her departure no one else has taken on the organising mantle…
(A sudden doubt about this word led me to look it up – Apart from ‘cloak’ which is what I want, it has several other meanings including, apparently ‘a layer of tissue in molluscs which secretes the shell’. I didn’t know that, did you? )
All sort of things about your lunch sounds appealing – apart, perhaps, from ‘Swede salad’…
It was entirely veggie, with cranberry dressing…
I’ll ignore your molluscs if I may. But this dreadful situation cries out for a happy ending. How about if a non-author gets involved?
Sounds like a great idea!
You know me and I know Adele, so fewer degrees of separation. Cheesecake sounds scrummy. Send me the recipe – I’m not joking! I’m collecting recipes for a New Project. When I’m ready to reveal, you will be the first to know…
I meant normal people, Celia.
Oops. Didn’t mean it like that. I meant people I know who are not in the book business.
Will pursue the recipe. I can always blame you.
Oh Bookwitch, how kind you are! And do give my regards to Mrs Moomin if she’s who I think she is! And thanks to Jane too…and Celia..yes, we all actually do know one another in the world of children’s books. I’d say our address books were pretty much identical, Bookwitch. And what’s this with recipes for cheesecake?? If you get it, I’d like it as well,though maybe I’d better wait for Celia’s PROJECT which sounds thrilling….