The boys wear pinstripe suits

While girls read books in dusty attics,

Skulls are balanced on their books

And deathly thoughts will occupy

Their writings in those leather books

Until one dies in ghastly ways.

I went to visit an English teacher friend today and I was obsessed with her bookcases. They were filled with highbrow texts, arranged in arty ways so that the shelving units looked more like beautiful structures.

The titles were invariably written by women who ended up killing themselves in fits of passion, which instantly makes them more interesting to study – because everyone loves a hysterical woman.

And balanced amongst the books was a phrenology head and a human skull (not real, I hope). It reminded me of the dark academia novels that I went through a stage of loving. I could imagine my friend writing in a dusty loft, using a quill and a leather bound book.

I now feel like I have to work on my own book shelves as mine feel comparatively trashy – filled with thriller novels, written by women for women and all with the word ‘girl’ in the title.

Does anyone have a human skull that they wouldn’t mind me taking off their hands?

Much Love

Rachel xx