A Book To Read When You're Ancient

Posted By Daisy

www.marcjohns.com

A FEW weeks ago, I had a moment of 'Oh my Lord, I'm a childless spinster sharing a bathroom with strangers in a new city- how did this happen? I should've just married John or Brian or Philburn or whichever one of my highly-unsuitable former boyfriends.'

It may have had something to do with the fact that I would shortly be turning 35.

So I rang my mum to run through The Script with me. Which goes like this:

ME: 'I'm feeling a bit down. Am I a loser for moving to London at 34? Do you think I'll be single forever?'

HER: 'Don't be so silly, sure you only look about 25. You're any man's fancy and you'll meet someone lovely. What's for you won't pass you....'

It's not true but it's comforting and I don't know what I'd do without my mum's script.

In the end, my birthday was utterly lovely. We drank Bucks Fizz with freshly-squeezed orange juice at brunch, watched wealthy ladies try on vintage Rolexes at an antiques fair in Berkeley Square, listened to the funny banter of an auctioneer trying to flog half price Persian carpets in a hotel on Gloucester Road, and ate chocolate cake for tea.

My friend sent me this text: "As Oscar Wilde says, 35 is the perfect age for a woman, so much so that many women have decided to adopt it for the rest of their lives.'

And I sent her this in reply:

(It was totally tongue-in-cheek - one of the downsides to moving to London was that I had to miss my lovely friend Dee's fabulous Spanish wedding)


To which she replied:

G's photographic representation of her current life as a stay-at-home-mum

At least us ancient ladies still have a sense of humour, I guess.


Of course, when my mum came to visit a week later, they all had a great laugh when she pointed to this picture in a magazine saying 'This is the question that Daisy must ask herself every day.'

Elevator Pitch: Two teenagers meet at a cancer support meeting and fall in love via smart banter, literature and a trip to Amsterdam.

It's Michelle Magorian's 'Back Home' meets the precocious teenagers from Dawson's Creek.

I really enjoyed it, but it is a children's book and the Dawson's Creek speak can get a bit annoying- Which of us ever spoke like this as teenagers?