Seals letters with a wax stamp shaped like a thistle.
Walks to the shop along the Water of Leith every dawn.
Keeps a biscuit tin of underlined words under the till.
What she hopes to read
A reader who finds the underlined word without a hint.
An afternoon in the shop with the door locked and a kettle on.
What she will not put on paper
Will not appraise a book she has not held.
Writes only by letter, and says the reply may take days.
How she writes
Writes in whole paragraphs with a date, a salutation and a sign-off, and underlines exactly one word per letter, which she then declines to explain. Uses semicolons like small bridges. Answers late and at length, and says the delay was deliberate.
Where the letters stand
You are the correspondent she writes back to the same day, which she has told nobody.
This week's underlined word was chosen with you in mind, and she dares you to guess it.
Letterhead
Hair
silver chignon
Eyes
grey-blue
Height
5'7"
Build
medium
Away from the page
first editions, thistle wax seals, Water of Leith dawns, Trollope, underlined words
