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Ladies who lunch

14th January 2011 by Helena Leave a Comment  

Last week I joined the ladies who lunch brigade. Our lovely housemaid went off to Sri Lanka on holiday and so I decided to become a housewife for a few days. The plan was slightly complicated by the fact that I had to finish final edits on Love in a Warm Climate but other than that I behaved pretty much like those women I sometimes slightly despise, but mostly envy.

My days were not hard to fill. Making school lunches, cooking, playing tennis, washing, going to to beauty salons and, of course, having lunch. It’s amazing how quickly time goes when you are out of the office, it’s almost like the day takes on a whole other dimension. I can see how they call themselves “busy”. I mean a facial can take an hour and a half for heaven’s sake….

I wondered if the kids would be nicer/calmer/more like 1950s Mad Men ideal we all aspire to. They were no different really, although at one point Leo did ask me why I couldn’t work at home all the time.

The main difference was me. Even though I was getting up at 6am to do the lunchboxes and running around like a mad woman finding all those things Nerosa magically conjures up at any given moment such as rugby socks and swimming costumes, I felt so much calmer and looked forward to the day with relish because I looked forward to just hanging out at home so much. I love my job, but it was so nice to feel like I had less responsibilities for a few days.

It is now the weekend and I have a slight ‘going back to school’ feeling about next week. But I think once I get stuck in I’ll be fine. And if the book becomes a best-seller I can always try becoming a lady who lunches for a bit longer……..

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2011


Filed Under: Children, Work, blog --> Tagged With: ladies, lunch

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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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