Reader 20: Gillian Anderson

No, not that Gillian Anderson. This one is a 59 year old Masseur from Kilmacolm in Scotland.

Gillian has been married for 39 years and has 1 daughter, 1 son-in-law and 2 grand-daughters.

Tell me about yourself?
Tall, slim, hard-working, friendly, good with finances.

How would your friends describe you?
Reliable, loving, good friend, shy.

What do you do for a living?
Hot Stone & Swedish Therapy, Holistic Facial.

How important is work to you?
Very important.

Where do you live?
In a Victorian 4 bed house.

What did you think of The Blue Handbag?
Great book, really enjoyed it.

How do you know the person who passed the book to you?
I work with Mo Ferrington.

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Thanks Gillian - I've never had a hot stone massage, but I do like the sound of them... next time I'm nearby maybe I'll pop in!

Reader 19: Marcia

Marcia is a 66 yr old 'Enthusiastic retiree' living in San Diego, California.

How would your friends describe you?
I think they would say, I’m a: nature/animal lover; good cook; loyal friend; and, a soft-hearted, but tough, old bird.

What project are you working on at the moment?
Reviewing, organizing, and trying to figure out what to do with a stamp collection (accumulation) I inherited from my parents.

What is the most important object in your home/garden?
Our picture albums.

Do you do anything creative?
Not at the moment, but I plan to take up decoupage and (hopefully) learn to play a musical instrument.

What’s the best advice your parents gave you?
If you don’t have the money to buy something, you just don’t get it.

What have you learnt from books?
I’ve learned a lot about human nature and the many variations in life experiences. It’s also helped to broaden my vocabulary.

What are you reading at the moment?
Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie and Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen.

What is your greatest fear?
That my daughter will die before I do. No reason to think she will, but . . .

What do you drive and how do you feel about it?
I love my 1998 Toyota Corolla, Princess Snowflake (obviously, she’s white).

What is your earliest memory?
Being woken up in the middle of the night to go clam digging with my parents and sister at a beach on Cape Cod.

Who is your hero?
Former US President, Jimmy Carter.

What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
Cheetos.

Who would you invite to a dream dinner party?
My parents (now deceased), my sister (who has advanced Alzheimer’s) and her family, and my daughter -- all hale and hearty.

Who was your favourite character in The Blue Handbag?
I think it was Charlie; he was very ‘real’ and my kind of guy.

How do you know the person who passed the book on to you?
About 30 years ago, I met Lynne through a mutual friend. Now, I consider both my very best friends.

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Thank you Marcia, it's lovely to meet you. And that's good advice from your parents!

Reader 18: Kathryn

Kathryn is a doctor living in Sheffield.

How important is your work to you?
My work constantly drives me to achieve more each day, but reminds me also how important it is to stop and enjoy everything while you can.

When were you happiest?
Just now.

What is your favourite book?
The Time Traveller's Wife.

What are your pets called?
Tallisker.

What is your earliest memory?
The flowers in my mum’s garden.

How do you relax?
Catching up with friends and putting the world to rights.

What keeps you awake at night?
Making lists of things I need to do.

How did you find reading The Blue Handbag?
I struggled to put the book down, always wanting to get to know Leonard better and to explain the mystery.

How do you know the person who passed the book on to you?
A good friend who has always passed on to me suggestions for great books and music.

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Thank you Kathryn, good to meet you (and Tallisker!)

Reader 17: Catherine

Catherine is a counsellor and psychotherapist in her 30s living in Oxfordshire.

Describe yourself in five words.

Intuitive, thoughtful, driven, analytic, empathic.

How would your friends describe you?
Forthright.

Do you do anything creative?
Just day to day things – creating a home, making things with shells or paper, doodles, photography, an occasional painting or writing, sand sculptures at the beach.

What are you working on at the moment?
I collected hundreds of shells on a recent holiday and have just finished weaving them together with wire. A local lady spontaneously started to help me collect them. I thin k it’s interesting how the creative act can cut through social conformity and language barriers to unite people.

What’s the best advice your parents gave you?
My dad always said “When in doubt, don’t” referring to relationships.

What is your favourite book?
Enid Blyton ‘Mr Pinkwhistle’, C. S. Lewis ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, Harper Lee ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’, J.D. Salinger ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, H.E Bates ‘The Purple Plain’, David Niven ‘The Moon’s a Balloon’.

How many books do you read a month?
Less than one.

What would your super power be?
Telepathy.

What are your spiritual beliefs?
I’m mainly Christian/Catholic, Buddhist and Atheist. Yes, really.

What is your earliest memory?
Aged 2/3? Deciding whether to write with my left or right hand. I opted for my left.

Who is your hero?
My dad and Winston Churchill.

What keeps you awake at night?
My neighbour Jane singing “I want to ride on a star, if you stay with me girl we can rule the world” at 3am. Otherwise I sleep well.

Who would you invite to a dream dinner party?
Agatha Christie, Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine, Emmeline Pankhurst, Yoda (from Star Wars) or Ja Ja Binks, Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy), The Minogue sisters.

What did you think of The Blue Handbag?
I enjoyed it. It made me feel homely, like wearing a favourite old jumper and slippers, and it brought back warm memories of my teenage years in my family home.

How do you know the person who passed the book on to you?
Fiona is a friend. We met nearly 5 years ago when we worked at the same counselling service.

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Thanks Catherine, definitely worth the wait : ) and very illuminating.

Reader 16: Dasha Andrews

Dasha is a 43 yr old mother and wanna go back to work therapist (homeopath/ craniosacral therapist) living in Hampshire in the UK.

How would your friends describe you?
Difficult!, at times reserved, messy, very sensitive, artistic, honest.

What do you do for a living?
I’m a kept woman.

What project are you working on at the moment?
Preparing a ‘German experience’ for the kids at my son’s nursery (Montessori).

What’s the best advice your parents gave you?
Watch your company perhaps.

If you could live your life again, what would you do more of/less of?
More travelling, studying, meditating, laughing, singing, being creative in different ways.

Sum up your life so far in twenty words or less.
Never quite at home.

When were you happiest?
After spending some time at an ashram in India.

What is your favourite book?
What is the What.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?
Perhaps that I sang in a garage rock band and played the electric guitar (badly-but loud).

What is your greatest fear?
To be rejected.

What would your super power be?
Unconditional love.

What are your spiritual beliefs?
Perhaps mainly influenced by Vedic teachings – life is a quest of non-duality.

What is your earliest memory?
My grandmother dying of breast cancer in a dark room.

How do you relax?
I can’t.

What person has been the greatest influence over you/who is your hero?
Sai Baba.

What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Having time to myself and switching off the world for a while.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
Working in a butchery.

What did you think of The Blue Handbag?
First, I was impatient because of the slow and detailed beginning. In the end, however, I appreciated how well developed the characters and the story actually were. Overall, a refreshingly ordinary story of ordinary people.

How do you know the person who passed the book on to you?
Patrick is my husband.

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Thank you Dasha. I love that photo, and that's the best super power so far...

Reader 15: Lynne Williams

Lynne Williams describes herself as 'young at heart' and is currently passing through Ukiah, California on her way back from San Diego, which was home for most of her life; she lives most of the year in Port Townsend, Washington.

Describe yourself in five words
Retired late blooming flower child.

Describe your house.
Moved into my house on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State about six months ago. The kitchen is cornflower blue. Lots of crystals and mirrored dingle-dangles hang from a driftwood branch over the west-facing window. It’s beautiful when the sun is low; the adjacent dining area is terra-cotta orange and also gets splashed with the rainbows and sparkles in the late afternoon. These rooms are magical that time of day.

How important do you think art is?
For me, art is right up there with the necessities. There’s a bumper sticker around town that says ART SAVES LIVES. Art inspires us to reach beyond ourselves and provides an outlet for creative expression of our individuality in a non-competitive way.

What is the most important thing you’ve learnt this year?
That my creativity needs a lot of space and light and fresh air to blossom.

What’s the best advice your parents gave you?
My friend’s dad included me in his now-that-you’re-getting-married talk with his daughter and said, "Don’t ever get yourself in debt. When you owe money, you’ve aren’t in control of your own life."

If you could live your life again, what would you do more of/less of?
I’d get more education, dance with anybody who asked me, take more risks, have more children, stop at more lemonade stands, eat more vegetables, do more yoga.

Sum up your life so far in twenty words or less.
Adult child of alcoholic, invisible, frightened, abandoned. Blessed with good friends, healing, feeling, figuring out who I REALLY am.

When were you happiest?
Living alone, working at home, no TV, lots of Joni Mitchell.

What are you reading at the moment?
The Monk Downstairs. ‘ Just finished Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky – FABULOUS! And she intended it to be twice as long – amazing.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?
The things I picture doing to careless, rude drivers.

What are your pets called?
Charlie; Chuck, King Charles; my orange cat from the pound.

What is your greatest fear?
That I’ll never live in Paris.

What do you drive and how do you feel about it?
I drive a 12-year-old Toyota Camry, Carly Sage, and I absolutely love her. She’s one of my best friends.

What are your spiritual beliefs?
A combination Christian-Buddhist-Muslim Beatles mystical approach: we’re all divine and all we need is love.

What is your earliest memory?
Sitting in a jumper seat in an attic as my mother hung clothes on a line; light was pouring in from somewhere and I was watching dust motes dancing in the slanting sunlight.

Describe The Blue Handbag in five words.
Compelling puzzler with believable characters.

How do you know the person who passed the book on to you?
Heather is the daughter of my dear friend Nancy. Her older brother is my god-son and it felt like Heather was my god-daughter.

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Thank you Heather - what with Carly Sage and Chuck, I feel like I know you now...

Reader 14: Caroline

Caroline is a retired medical-librarian who describes herself as 'ancient' and who lives in Surrey.

How would your friends describe you?

Busy, takes on too much, involved in local choirs, U3A, NADFAS etc, etc.

How important is your work to you?
Ex medical-librarian. Job was very important, still trying to come to terms with retirement.

What is the most important object in your home?

My books, c 3,000, and clothes, too many of those too.

What are you working on at the moment?

Building and furnishing a dolls house.

What is your favourite book?

Too many to mention, Jane Austen’s Persuasion if pushed, but I’d hate to confine it to 1.

What are you reading at the moment?

Travel books about Syria (off there next week), Amelia Edwards’ Voyage up the Nile, Emma Darwin’s 2nd novel, A Secret Alchemy, Obama Dreams from my father, re-reading Mary Stewart The Gabriel Hounds (the Syrian connection again).

What do you drive and how do you feel about it?

Alfa Romeo GTV coupe, I love it dearly.

What are your spiritual beliefs?

Anglo catholic CofE.

What is your earliest memory?

Swans on the Thames.

What keeps you awake at night?

Global warming.

Who would you invite to a dream dinner party?

This is a difficult one. I sat next to Simon Raven once at a National Book League Cricket match lunch. I wanted to talk about his books, he wanted to talk about cricket! And once next to a nursing sister from Holloway prison, who wouldn’t talk about her job. So I am afraid anybody I choose might be a disappointment. Katharine Whitehorn would probably be OK, apart from that any good conversationalist.

Who would play you in a film of your life?

I’d love to think it would be Juliet Stephenson, but I fear it would be more likely to be Imelda Staunton.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

I’ve never had a bad job.

What did you think of The Blue Handbag?
I liked the way the plot revealed itself slowly, and came to a satisfactory ending. I did find it difficult to like any of the characters much, got very irritated with Pickles the dog, and bored with the plants. That sounds rather damning, sorry. I shall read your next one with interest, I think the way you handle the plot will see you through.

How do you know the person who passed the book on to you?

He is my son.

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Thank you for your answers, Caroline. Pickles seems to be a bit like marmite ; )