RECIPE BOOK & EMMA

Emma and her two sisters had wanted something to remember their mother by. Their father, traumatised by the death of his wife, held tightly onto her things. Sarah, the eldest of the sisters managed to secrete away a book of recipes that their mother had amassed. The collection of newspaper cuttings, cake recipes handwritten by neighbours and immaculately typewritten directions for baking bread covered forty years. Sarah, understanding and wanting to salve the pain that her twin sisters were feeling, meticulously reproduced the book for each of them. She copied the script on the cover with gold paint and distressed every colour copied page but Emma felt peculiarly numb about the book. It was merely a copy and had never been touched by her mother’s hand. Nine years after her mother’s death Emma’s attitude has changed, the book is now a beautiful demonstration of her elder sister’s love for her and her twin.

21 Aug 2011