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The ultimate abusive relationship

27th June 2010 by Helena 2 Comments  

I am watching England v Germany as I write. I have decided that supporting England is like the ultimate abusive relationship.

They do just enough to keep you interested by changing their shirt colour and beating the Netherlands once every few years and even Germany once or twice. You think all the years of suffering was worth it as you get a few minutes of pure bliss.

But then suddenly they can’t even beat the USA and you wonder what on earth happened. Or you sit and watch as the commentator says; “If Waddle misses this England are out of the World Cup.” And of course he does miss. And you never forget that phrase.

Germany has just scored. It is one-nil. And still we watch in the vain hope that there will be a miraculous turnaround and our boys will do something to keep us in the relationship for another four years…..

OK, it’s now two-nil. Porca Miseria.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2010


Filed Under: blog --> Tagged With: abusive, relationship, ultimate

2 thoughts on The ultimate abusive relationship

  • Catherine says:
    28th June 2010 at 12:01 am

    But at least Rafa is still in the running at Wimbledon – even if there were a few heart-stopping moments on Saturday in his match against, yes, a German (and before anyone accuses me of racism that is just stating a fact of nationality, ok?) who I thought played a superb match tactically but ran out of steam. A bit like the England team except they didn’t have the tactical nous.

  • Cate in Cetona says:
    28th June 2010 at 10:53 am

    Porca miseria! Ma-donna, I love it. We listened to the first half here in Tuscany via the Internet and Radio 5 Live but the BBC commentary was so biased and so horribly yobbish in words and spirit we turned instead for the second half to RAI 1 radio, which was far kinder to everyone plus much better for our Italian. I wish to goodness I could feel remotely patriotic when it came to England playing football but I just can’t and the most moving moment for us was hearing the national anthem being played at the beginning. Still, at least Radio 5 Live kept us updated with the cricket score…

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Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi-based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor-in-chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. She is working on a thriller set in Sweden as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

In 2022 her short story The Japanese Gardener came second in the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. One of her stories was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. When she’s not writing, she works as a headhunter for the media and entertainment industry for the Sucherman Group. 

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

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