Quotidian

I think many people, and I'm definitely one of them, enjoy the world of antiques and vintage because the items we buy and sell have so many possibilities: are so stylish and so very well made. However, I must admit for me, the chief joy of being and antiques dealer is handling, using and appreciating objects which were in everyday use generations ago. I wonder about the stories they could tell, the everyday domestic tales of our private lives - humdrum or perhaps not so humdrum. It is the nosey parker in me, I suppose - or if you want to be grandiose, the social historian in me. This why I'm such a huge fan of Persephone Books. They tend to specialise in the kind "middle brow" women's fiction that gives real insight into how people lived their lives before Starbucks and Twitter sped up and homogenised our existence. The books are beautifully written, stylishly produced and a treat all round. If you don't know them, then I'm doing you a public service in bringing them to your attention. Go to their shop, browse, buy, hunker down in your own domestic refuge and enjoy, preferably with a good cup of tea!