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She can’t recall what started her collection. Maybe it was in a fragment of conversation overheard as she cleaned a sink? Before long (as she dusted a sitting room or defrosted a fridge) she noticed people were telling her their stories. Perhaps they always had done, but now it is different, now the stories are reaching out to her and she gathers them to her... EXCERPT: She can’t recall what started her collection. Maybe it was in a fragment of conversation overheard as she cleaned a sink? Before long (as she dusted a sitting room or defrosted a fridge) she noticed people were telling her their stories. Perhaps they always had done, but now it is different, now the stories are reaching out to her and she gathers them to her…
Her love of all things writing continues with Plooms (plooms.co.uk) her online fountain pen company, which Sally started when she couldn’t find a pen she wanted to buy. ‘I write with a fountain pen all the time; I love the sound it makes on the paper,’ she tells me. ‘In The Book of Beginnings, I’ve just written about what I know, and I know about selling fountain pens. I also wanted to say something about the joy of writing in ink. This does permeate the book.’ Do you think this book presents an accurate representation of life for some people in our society today? Janice is a cleaner who collects stories. However, she doesn’t know her worth. She doesn’t think she has her own story until she meets Mrs B. She finally learns her value and her own story and can choose to create her own story as she wishes. Our servers are getting hit pretty hard right now. To continue shopping, enter the characters as they are shown Ultimately, I wasn’t sure what to expect of this book at first. I did think I was in for a romance read but this absolutely didn’t go the way I had anticipated. It is very different from my typical trope but I have to admit, this absolutely got me out of the reading slump I had been in.If you’re looking for something a little light-hearted and not overly taxing, I would recommend you grab a copy of this book.After studying history at university, Sally moved to London to work in advertising. However, in her spare time she studied floristry at night school and eventually opened her own flower shop. She soon came to appreciate that flower shops offer a unique window into people’s stories and eventually she began to photograph and write about this floral life in a series of non-fiction books. Later, she continued her interest in writing when she founded her fountain pen company, Plooms.co.uk.
MY THOUGHTS: I love to sit in cafès listening to the conversations going on around me. Sometimes it's amazing what you overhear. That may be why this book really resonated with me. Janice and I have a lot in common. We both collect stories, although she is far better at it than I am. And my practice husband, as I like to refer to him, and her husband Mike, could be twins. An early bird who often starts work at 7.30am, Sally writes all over her home: ‘In bed, at the kitchen table, on the sofa,’ as well as going out to write, too. ‘The cafes of Dorset have had quite a lot of my money, as I do tend to buy a lot of coffee and cake when I’m working in them,’ she smiles.Janice is a cleaner. She sees many things as she goes about her work and feels everyone has a story to tell- just one that makes them who they are. She really doesn't like her husband any more- he has had almost a job for every year she has known him and she finds him dull and tedious so she finds life in other people. When she goes to clean for Mrs B, she finally meets someone who wants to know her story- but does she have one? The greatest stories are never written down; they live inside the hearts and minds of those who tell them." Mrs B’s character was very well written and I instantly liked this woman. Sharp, witty but also very intuitive. Mrs B instantly knows that there is more to Janice and whilst trying to uncover her story, they form a heartwarming relationship.
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