Have you ever looked at a simple, everyday object and really thought about its history, the stories associated with its travels through various lives? I recently bought a beautiful antique Limoges plate at a flea market. It has lilacs, my favorite flower, on it and gold trim and I wonder if it was part of a set of wedding china, or a special memento that someone purchased on a trip, or perhaps a treasured decorative object displayed lovingly in an elderly woman's living room. Maybe it was used to serve delicious cakes with tea or filled with cucumber sandwiches at a bridal shower. Someday it will have memories for me and, perhaps, for my family. I also have a little teapot that I bought for a couple of dollars at a shop in Bellows falls, VT and I wonder about where it came from and if someone loved it and used it, or if it was a cute gift that eventually took up room better used for something else. I have it displayed with my teapot collection in my kitchen.
What Raffel has done in this wonderful little book of essays (recommended to me by my good friend Helen) is to look at various objects and reminisce about the people and events linked to them that have been significant in her life: her mother's death, a trip, the loss of her engagement diamond, an eccentric relative. There is some sort of magic in Raffel's writing, bringing memories ans experiences to life through the objects that defined them. I can relate to this and, quite frankly, I wish I had written this book. My only complaint is that I didn't really enjoy the illustrations. I don't require photographs, but some of the drawing just didn't evoke the feelings that they should and it kind of detracted from the experience of reading it. Other than that, though, it was wonderful and I recommend it highly!
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