The Curious Kidnapping of Nora W by Cate Green

Author:Cate Green [Green, Cate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008562519
Publisher: One More Chapter

Nora strokes the fabric of a suit jacket and pulls it to her face as if she wants to see if it smells of men’s perfume. I see that her eyes are wet before she hides them from us. Every time we take one of these journeys to her past it shows me the strength of this old woman. Could I go to the souk, to the hospital where I had my clinic before the war, to the beautiful park where the Queiq river runs without breaking into pieces?

‘I would like to see a blouse,’ she says and now her eyes are back to being calm and pale, tired from spending so long seeing so many things. ‘Do you have silk? I want it for a special occasion.’

‘Certainly we have silk, my— madam,’ the shop assistant says. ‘A whole section with some lovely blouses just over here.’

She shows Nora to another rack, full of bright colours, shiny.

‘Here you go. You can feel the quality.’

‘This is rayon, I think. I am looking for silk.’

‘Well, this is very popular these days. Sells all over the West End. Art silk, we like to call it. It’s … erm … short for artificial.’

‘Yes, I can feel that.’

Nora reverses her wheelchair away from the arty blouses and almost runs into the sales assistant. Almost, but not quite and I have to force my laughter back down into my throat as she jumps out of the way because I know that Nora is an excellent driver.

‘Thank you so much for letting us come in and see your quality shmatte, mein liebe Dame,’ she says. ‘Arifa, I would like to go home now. I think I will wear my green blouse, from when silk was silk and Henry loved me, for when Amelia wakes up and we have our party.’

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