India Hicks

In my mother’s little study she keeps her very early commonplace books - the first given to her by Baroness Sophie ‘Isa’ Buxhoeveden, in 1943.

Isa had been a lady-in-waiting to the Russian Tsarina (my mother’s great aunt). She escaped after the revolution. Enduring extreme conditions and relying on a mix of courage, luck and determination she made her way across Siberia, through Asia before finally arriving in Europe.

I love my mothers first entry in the book, written in her young hand writing ‘I have gathered a posy of other men’s flowers, and nothing but the thread that binds them is my own’ - Michel de Montaigne.

PS Please don’t worry about the out of date address showing - and that phone has not worked in a while.

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