This is a classy salon.

We spill in from the Piccadilly bus lane into Bafta to the sparkle and good posture of aperitivo. Moving through to our seats in the dim, velvety auditorium space, past the typographic brickwork listing accolades and made-its. Small brass plaques pattern the backs of the chairs displaying the patronage by the superstellar crowd, we ease ourselves in ready for the event.

For tonight, Lionel Shriver read to us her unpublished short story ‘Chapstick’. It’s an entertaining allegory, animated, quietly acerbic – that is mildly acid – account of family ties and how they play out in the patriarch’s old age.

Honestly, when was the last time you were read to? At first it’s a novelty and hard not to be distracted (after all the brass promises me the ghost of George Clooney sits in front) but then we’re gripped with this family tale of a self-important father, children marked by both his professional stature and paternal absence, to play out as sibling resentment and ultimately the resignation and pragmatism of the youngest son.

Pindrop describes itself simply as ‘the home of short fiction’ with events held in various locations around London, New York and LA http://www.pindropstudio.com/

Pindrop are warm hosts, these events definitely have an air and poise. This was one helluva bedtime story.

There is something calming about walking around the quiet residential streets
of Mayfair at the weekend. 

It is easy to lose track of time whilst wandering around in awe of the grandeur of the area, imagining what it is like to live in such an elegant part of London and creating your own stories of life behind those heavy looking town house doors. It's an area of beautiful and intricate architecture and well looked after homes where everything seems so perfectly placed - but there is always something around the corner to make you smile...