This is lovely. Reminds me a lot of Jan Ormerod.

Do you know her? Author and illustrator of the fantastic books Sunshine and Moonlight, each of which is completely without words, and told entirely through pictures -- these gorgeous, photo-realistic illustrations that just somehow manage to evoke the details of domesticity circa-late 1970s/early 1980s (when I was a kid) so strongly that to look at the books is almost to travel back in time.

I'll have to dig deeper into her oeuvre -- mostly I just read Sunshine and Moonlight, maybe because the little girl in those books looks exactly like my daughter, and they make me wish I had a big 1970's dad beard.

Joy of Sex! Exactly! And all those 1970s lime greens and mustardy yellows. So evocative.

(Been browsing on your blog, btw., and hugely impressed with your work and general productivity levels. [doffs hat] -- so, how did you end up moving to London, and what do you like/dislike about it? I'm a Brit now living in the US, so I've kinda gone the other way, and often ponder a move back...)

Curiouser and curiouser -- what were you doing in Moscow? I studied Russian and spent some time in St. Petersburg, but only saw Moscow fleetingly. So your husband is a Brit?

Urbana is perfectly nice, in a laid-back, leafy college town kind of way. The people are all very friendly and educated, the streets are clean and traffic-/crime-free, it's pretty much yer classic "good place to raise kids" (and yes, apocalyptic thunderstorms!) Still, I do have a hankering to return to Britain, even though on paper it makes no sense (high cost of living, lower salaries, bad weather, gangs of surly youths roaming the streets and emptying trashcans over each others heads, etc. etc.) Still something deep within me craves all that, which would be fine if it was just me, but with my family in tow, the decision is not just mine to make. I don't know, I go back and forth on this a lot -- I have never lived in London (raised in Henley/Oxford area, studied Japanese at Edinburgh University, then high-tailed it out to Illinois) so maybe that's be an adventure all of its own. You've never been tempted to return Stateside?

Would that be Shakespeare & Co. in Paris? Or is there one in Moscow too? Have you visited the one in Paris? An utterly magical place.

Cool that you popped up to Henley -- that's where I was born and raised, and I have really never actually seen a Boat Race (during the regatta us townies tended to disappear into our homes until it was all over, although I do have great memories of walking around town and seeing all these gangs of four really tall skinny blokes plus one little tiny girl -- rowing crew plus the cox -- wandering around)

The greenness is indeed very special. Out here in E. Central Illinois there is certainly greenery to be had, but it's a different shade of green, and the topography is roughly that of a brownish pool table, stretching out to the horizon in all directions. *sigh*

Ah well, for me the main thing I miss is the proximity ro Europe, plus the hard-to-define British sense of humour. Folks out here tend to be extremely perky and generous and outgoing, but they take themselves so darned seriously.

Well, best of luck with everything. I have a couple of picture book manuscripts, which I'd be delighted for you to cast your eye over, send me feedback, etc. If you are too busy, I'll totally understand, but by way of a bribe perhaps I can send you some sub-standard and weird-tasting American chocolate?

That's brylcreem!

This is really beautiful, Sarah - I love the treatment of the cloth, hair and hands (especially her left, non-writing hand - lovely, subtle use of shadow!
Tell Elena I say hi :)
best,
Ellen L.