Hello dear Off-Topicers,
I was going to say that this has been an unexpectedly long hiatus, but then looked back and realised I’ve actually been posting once a month (or so) for a while now, which makes this almost…punctual.1
Anyway, where to begin. If you follow me on Instagram, you might already know I’ve had news of the my-biggest-and-longest-held-dream-has-come-true variety. But for the newsletter-only readers, here’s the announcement in the Bookseller.
Moving swiftly on from the fact that I’ve now used this profile photo for the past five years…2 After the first novel I wrote didn’t find a publisher in 2019, I realised it was a heartbreak that felt more comfortable held close, so this time around, even my own parents didn’t know I was writing another novel until the first draft was almost complete. The odd thing though, is that once you’ve got used to keeping hope in a small jar (with the lid firmly on) and rarely daring to talk about it, it can feel quite a leap to start. Even when the response from agents, and then publishers, seemed promising, I was too cautious to tell anyone beyond the few people who already knew about my novel, and so stored my joy in the jar too. And so I feel slightly clueless as to how to talk about all this now - it mainly lives in my head as a wonderful and slightly surreal sort of blancmange, with too much wobble for coherent thought.3
So instead, let me tell you about the novel itself. It’s called The Names and is about how our lives can be shaped by the name we’re given. In the wake of the 1987 storm, Cora is making her way to the registrar’s office with her newborn son and 9-year-old daughter. Her husband, Gordon, a controlling and difficult man, intends for her to continue with family tradition and name the child after him. But on the way there, she ponders her own choice: Julian - meaning sky father - a name which appears to pay tribute to her husband, but which she hopes might give her son the opportunity to be his own person and transcend generations of troubled earth fathers. Or Bear, her daughter’s suggestion - a name she thinks sounds cuddly and kind, but also brave and strong. Spanning thirty-five years, the story splits into three alternate and alternating narratives, following how their lives unfold depending on the name Cora gives her son.
My novel will be published in Spring ‘25 by Orion’s new Phoenix imprint in the UK, and by Penguin in the US and Canada. It will also be translated into a further nineteen languages (and that part totally blows my mind).
And breathe. You have no idea how long it took me to write those few short paragraphs.4
And now for some other bits & bobs:
The Best Soup I’ve Ever Tasted
Last night, I made the best soup I’ve ever tasted5. Yes, that’s a bold statement, but that’s how good it was. Here’s a quick recipe. It’s a mushroom soup, and if you’re someone who usually avoids them because they cause stomach pain, you might find oyster mushrooms are fine because they have lower levels of naturally-occurring polyols than regular ones. Oyster mushrooms are a bit more chewy, look quite disturbing, but are nice once cooked. Nb. If you avoid onion/leeks/garlic, this amazing enzyme might just change your life.6
So, the recipe: Sauté a roughly chopped onion and a leek for five minutes. Add 600g of roughly chopped oyster mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes more, stirring regularly. Add a can of this amazing lemongrass coconut milk (I’ve found it works well in lots of homemade soups and curries); 400ml of vegetable stock (I used two stock cubes, but then didn’t add any additional salt); and a heaped teaspoon of dried thyme. Leave to simmer away for ten minutes. Then add some almond milk to get it to the right kind of liquidiness (not so much that it dilutes the flavour). Turn off the heat and pulse with a stick blender - I prefer my soups quite chunky, so pulse in very short bursts if you do too. Finally, stir in a generous handful of chopped fresh parsley. Now gobble it up 🥣.
Young People Just Know Stuff…
…about hair.
I’m becoming increasingly aware that my careful research often leads me to trawling through reviews that suggest the solution is to spend £45 on something in extremely lovely packaging. But lately I’ve found the thing that actually works, is more often presented to me by my 22-year-old daughter, who seems to find more thrifty recommendations from TikTok videos. When I mentioned that my hair felt quite flat and thin, she presented me with a bottle of this from her drawer. My previous experience has been that things like this leave my hair feeling sticky and looking weirdly dusty. But this stuff is actually magic. She instructed me to spray small amounts onto my finger tips and then lift sections of hair and rub a little in at the roots. It literally takes me from flat to bouffant in seconds. But somehow, my hair still feels totally like my own. And the volume is retained even once I’ve brushed it through. One day, thrilled by its miraculous effects, I did think, I’m just going to go wild and spray this directly onto my roots, as per the bottle’s instructions. But again, it seems young people just know stuff; this is Not Good. I then invested in the shampoo from the same range and actually, it’s so effective that I only use the spray on days where I want to volumise in extreme ways (in case that sounds like a rare occurrence, it’s actually once or twice a week). The whole range seems to be on a 3 for 2 at Boots at the moment.
…about podcasts.
Her other excellent recommendation has been the Diary of a CEO podcast. Again, I had reservations (mainly that CEO doesn’t automatically equate to person-I’d-want-to-listen-to in my mind, so that threw me off a bit). But then I listened to this episode where he interviews Dr Gabor Mate and…wow. This one is really meaty at nearly two hours long. Gabor talks about his own life with openness and vulnerability, but also about his practice and research. Particularly fascinating were the findings he shared about the relationship between personality type and health (apparently noticeably nice people are statistically far more prone to auto-immune and chronic illness. He talked about how when you constantly people-please, the immune system can gradually follow suit and similarly cease to maintain effective boundaries). It’s made me want to read his books - have you read any? And Steven (the CEO) seems a genuinely lovely person7. Another win for the youth.
Currently reading:
Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. Purely because I was reminded I’d never read it when I saw someone who looked nice reading it on a train (it made me realise how often I used to see someone on the tube into work and use their general demeanour as an endorsement for whatever they were reading. Kindle has kind of ruined that. Also rarely commuting beyond my room in the attic). I’ve just looked up a Sylvia Plath poem that was a favourite as a teenager…it no longer resonated with me, but I could see why I’d loved it so much then - it’s the perfect post-break up poem, full of passion and angst. Bravo for wonderful english teachers - this wasn’t part of our syllabus, but I remember mine reading it to us at the start of a lesson. She clearly knew her audience.8
Hoping you’ve had a gorgeous start to advent (or just December if you’re not advent-inclined).
With love,
Florence x
When I started this newsletter a few years ago, my aim was to send it out once a week, which makes anything less feel a failure. But maybe I just need to reframe my aspirations... although in a fit of contrariness, I’m hoping this month will be a two-lettered thing, as I’d quite like to do a round up of my favourite books from this year (although perhaps that should wait until January anyway, just in case something really good sneaks in between Christmas and New Year).
At some point I will either need to find an alternative or ask someone proficient in Photoshop to add signs of ageing. I think that may be a unique request.
Put like that, it makes me sound like I might have a pair of stoned hippies living in my head saying things like, ‘Wow man, I think someone said they were going to publish my novel!’ with another replying, ‘Far out, dude!’ Whatever, it’s all good. And if you happen to be reading this with heartbreak held tight to your chest, or your hope stashed away in a jar, please believe that what comes to feel like the impossible can actually happen (and your very own pair of stoned hippies might be waiting just around the corner to repeat the facts until your astounded brain has found a way to process them).
I have been asked if the novel has footnotes. It doesn’t (but please don’t let that put you off). x
Clearly, I have comparatively little hesitation in sharing soup-related achievements ;)
It contains the lactase enzyme you might be familiar with from lactose-free milk, but also enzymes that neutralise onion, garlic, and pulses etc. But not regular mushrooms, hence the oysters.
I do think it uses quite sensationalist episode titles to draw people in…but still, I was drawn and then loved it.
Actually, if you have a gift to buy for a bookish young person, this would probably be perfect (although they might prefer the latest cover).
Massive congratulations, it sounds like an excellent read. And I'm not surprised you're having trouble assimilating the whole thing - people were fighting over you! That's amazing!
Congratulations. Yours sounds like the kind of novel I look so forward to reading and then savour each and every moment while immersed in it. Cannot wait! You know how people refer to writing, finishing and publishing a book as being akin to giving birth? That is exactly what came to mind when you described holding the secret of your unfinished novel close to you and in a tightly lidded small jar. I felt the same when I became pregnant after attempting for six unsuccessful years. I kept the knowledge of this pregnancy in a small jar close to my heart, lest my loose lips shatter that jar. I am sure you are as proud of the book you have birthed as I am of the human I birthed all those years ago!