Kate & Frida

Chapter 1

Frida Rodriguez ... En Route

October 2, 1991

Paris, France

Bonjour Puget Sound Book Company!

Greetings from my midnight view at H?tel La Louisiane. Ivory moonlight glinting off zinc rooftops. An autumn chill in the air and me at my desk – cocooned in a baggy sweater à la Julie Christie in Doctor Zhivago – as I continue to hunt for a book. Naturally! Why else would I be writing to you? I spent the whole day with my new pal Kirby scouring the City of Lights. Of course we hit the venerable Shakespeare and Company and gave Village Voice a chance and the bookstalls too – only to discover that this magnifique metropolis is awash in macho old Hemingway but good luck finding his better half.

I need Martha Gellhorn’s The Face of War !

Normally I’d order from my beloved Vroman’s in L.A. but Kirby won our contest for finding to-die-for moules marinières. Now I have to do something he tells me to do and he’s telling me to order Martha from you – we’ve been debating bookstores for almost a week and he claims you’re #1. He’s from Seattle – clearly biased – no offense. That said, I’m a card-carrying bookstore addict and I intend to try as many as I can before I die. I’ve been keeping a list since I was six and I can’t wait to add you to it.

I’m enclosing a traveler’s check. It should be enough to splurge for air mail. See address below.

Thank you and au revoir!

Frida Rodriguez

H?tel La Louisiane

60 rue de Seine

75006 Paris, France

P.S. Sorry about the splotches. My éclair sprung a leak!