Floriferous Ideas: Cabin Fever and Literary Ruminations.
A list of my favourite literary characters I would love to invite to a dinner party.
Though I try to savour life’s small pleasures, slow living doesn’t come easily I crave challenge, something to keep my body and mind engaged. Resting has been harder than I expected. The brief gift of spring sunshine lifted my spirits, but frost has returned, dragging my optimism with it. Caught in the liminal space between healing and recovery, I’ve been turning to writing and ruminating as a way to busy my mind. Lately, cabin fever has me lost in little distractions. I recently came across a wonderful post by Flourish and Flare about female literary characters you would invite to dinner. Inspired, I decided to create a list of my own.
Nina Hill - The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abi Waxman
Nina Hill is supremely confident in her own…shell.” To me, she’s a modern-day Kathleen Kelly. She works in a local bookshop, thrives on routine and organization, and has an adorable cat named Phil. I related endlessly to Nina—her anxious mind, her need for control, her love of curling up with a good book. She’s also on an epic trivia team—what’s not to love? I imagine we’d get along famously, swapping book recommendations, bonding over our cats, and diving into deep conversations about family and belonging. Nina would absolutely be top of my list of invitees!
Maeve Conroy - The Dutch House by Ann Pratchett.
After their mother’s abandonment and their distant father’s remarriage, Maeve becomes her brother Danny’s fierce protector, stepping into a maternal role despite her own grief. When their father dies and their stepmother casts them out of the grand but loveless Dutch House, Maeve shoulders their survival, sacrificing her own ambitions to secure Danny’s future.
Deeply nostalgic and a little tortured (like me), she often parks outside the Dutch House, lingering in the past, drawn to pain as much as memory. I know that impulse well, the need to revisit wounds, to observe sorrow as if it might reveal something new. Maeve’s life is one of resilience and sacrifice, yet beneath her sharp edges, she is warm, witty, and endlessly giving. I imagine sharing a bottle of red wine with her, listening to stories of heartbreak and humour, lost in conversation throughout the evening.
Martha Thornhill - Guilty by Definition by Susie Dent
I read this novel recently, and it was a perfect blend of comfort, intrigue, and charm. Martha Thornhill, a lexicographer at the Clarendon English Dictionary, is meticulous and analytical, deeply attuned to the power of language. Witty, curious, and endlessly fascinating (not to mention a natural trivia champion), she’s the kind of mind I’d love to unravel. I’d happily spend hours getting to know her, especially her puzzle-solving abilities!
Franny - Darling by India Knight
I have to preface this by saying that Franny and Sadie would be top-tier dinner guests. But narrowing it down to just two Radletts feels almost impossible, I’d absolutely love to have the entire Radlett clan over, especially Matthew, who would be an absolute hoot. I think I would quite like to hang out in ‘da sty’ and live the wild and whimsical life of the Radlett children.
Unlike the bold, confident Radletts, Franny is more reserved, a thinker and observer. She soaks in the world around her, and I imagine she’d have a trove of sharp, witty stories to share. Beneath her humour, there’s a warmth, a depth that makes her the kind of person you could talk to for hours and never tire of.
This is definitely not a definitive list, there are an endless amount of wonderful literary characters I would love to invite to dinner, here are just a few that have resorted with me recently.
I would LOVE to hear which literary characters you would like to invite to dinner and why…
I would also urge you to read the wonderful post that inspired this one by Flourish & Flare.
