THOUGHTS ON...
It all began with Thomas Cromwell, or rather Hilary Mantel’s riveting portrait of him in The Mirror and the Light*, the final book of the Wolf Hall trilogy. I’ve been listening to it on Audible whilst doing the ironing. Yes, I still iron, always with my late mother’s mantra in my ear, that dashing away with the smoothing iron is next to godliness and when a collar’s not smoothed from the points inward, the Other Place beckons. In the olden days when washing came from the line smelling of fresh air and lilacs (did it ever?) I felt purified ironing our modest amount of clothes, but now my bad back and I hate it, so I always bribe myself with a good audiobook.