Mrs. 'Arris

Recently PH and I happened upon this place.  You'd think the obvious.  But if you look closely in those windows you'd see large vats filled with beer.  We were looking for a restaurant at the moment and how could we possibly go wrong with a brewery/restaurant called The Library?  It spoke to both of us for different reasons.

 We walked in the front door and were greeted with a display of books (and beer cans,)  walls filled with books, this fabric was also on the seat cushions and chairs, and I was in love. How could we go wrong?

 There were books everywhere.  This pile was right at our heads, piled on the divider between the next booth.  All booths had piles of books there for the browsing.  It was my Disneyland. They were old, jacket-less, soft paged, mostly Reader's Digest Condensed books. You remember those, don't you?  Our mother's all subscribed to them and they came to the house monthly.  Now, where we live, used bookstores and library used book sale drop-offs tell you to leave anything but don't leave Reader's Digest Condensed books.  No one wants them, we can't even give them away.
      But here I was, apparently in the Reader's Digest cemetary. I took one from the pile and put it on the table.

     It opened automatically to this page. It opened so automatically I checked the spine to see if it was broken. Nope. Now, lately I've been talking a lot of coincidences, of  needing to listen to the inner me when I hear me tell me something and acting on what me is saying to me.  This was one of those instances.
     I had just heard about this book very recently.  And here, in this Reader's Digest Condensed book in an obscure little restaurant 13 hours from home I find the story.  I was quite frazzled as I tried and tried to remember where I had heard about this book.   I asked the restaurant if I could purchase this book, thinking they would say yes to a book that can't even be given away.  But I was told no, it was "part of the decor."
     Now I was seriously perturbed. Obviously, the coincidence was strong. WHERE had I read about this book recently?  Obviously it was something I needed to read because it crossed my path twice in a matter of days. There was a reason for this title being in my face now. It was written in the late 1950s so what's up?    We went back to our hotel.  I got my iPad and started searching Friend Laurie's blog because in a tiny fold in my brain I saw one of her posts and yes! There it was  http://www.thisismysymphony.net/2016/05/mrs-browns-lbd-my-mrs-brown-review/
      When we got home from our trip Friend Laurie brought the book to me. the real book, not Reader's Digest Condensed.  I started it late this afternoon sitting on the porch enjoying the late afternoon sun, looking for the clue from Mrs. 'Arris.
     

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