Souvenirs

I know I always say this, but it doesn’t matter where I’ve been or how much I’ve enjoyed my time away, I always love to come home to Hepworth Towers, with its views of the Derbyshire countryside and the quiet of our lane. I didn’t feel like that when we lived in Sheffield, even though I liked where we lived.

I don’t buy souvenirs, nor do I spend much time in shops while I’m away, but this time I was walking along the jetties behind the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero – one of my favourite places in San Francisco –

and I was drawn into Book Passage to look at book titles. I wanted to see which one attracted me: I was looking for inspiration for the new novel I’m writing with Jane (Linfoot.) And there was Anne Tyler’s latest book, just released, in hardback. OK. You need to know: I never buy hardbacks. I always wait for the paperback to come out.

But I was down on the waterfront in San Francisco (a place I love) and the book had just come out, and Anne Tyler is one of my favourite authors, and this edition was so beautifully designed and produced, and it had been signed by Anne Tyler, and I amazed myself and bought it. I don’t understand why having her signature makes such a difference. She is an author I revere, but she’s just a person, like me, so why was her signature the clincher? Mmm….interesting….