Random Things Tours: The Marmalade Diaries by Ben Aitken

For one year in 2021, author Ben Aitken spent a consistent lockdown time in the company of Winnie, a recently aristocratic widow. After spending the first lockdown in Australia, where he initially went for a wedding, Aitken found in Winnie´s house a convenient housing arrangement. He was supposed to help her while paying a very low rent.

The Marmalade Diaries. The True Story of an Odd Couple is a diary-like book covering their interactions, mostly during breakfast, accompanied by a slice of bread with marmalade. I love the idea of marmalade as a red thread through the story, bringing the disparate stories and experiences of the days together, glueing them, making sense out of them. 

The unlikely encounter between two very different people is a guaranteed source of stories. Ben and Winnie do have many stories to tell and many discoveries to do about one another. Their different backgrounds and life stories would have never meet if not the lockdown. At least there is something to be grateful for during such ungrateful experiences. 

Sweet sour, as a good marmalade is expected to be, the book is mundane - anyone skilled enough to fix a leak in the roof - empathic, full of humour, aristocratic elegance and working class boldness. An unlikely story putting together two different beings, still humans in the end.

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own