Speaking from experience, buying into symbolism will drive you mad. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been absolutely certain that a certain gesture definitively means a person is now my enemy. My long-suffering therapist always tries to remind me that there are other potential explanations for most things. But why shouldn’t I believe my own interpretations, especially if my enemies are making themselves known?
I’m convinced my therapist would be eaten alive if they stepped in the neighborhood where today’s episode takes place. We’ve got divorce lore, hot young lawn boys, cryptic Instagram posts, and garden parties. Everyone’s favorite vehicle for flexing on each other is a gigantic bronze sculpture of a fig. Love the fig, hate the fig, pretend indifference to the fig—it’s up to you. But one thing is certain and unavoidable: On this street, there is no such thing as neutrality.
This week our guest is Caroline O’Donoghue! Caroline is a novelist, screenwriter and host of the podcast Sentimental Garbage. Her fantasy series for young adults, All Our Hidden Gifts, is a New York Times bestseller and The Rachel Incident is being adapted for television by Universal Studios. She was born in Cork, Ireland and currently lives in London.
Caroline brought Kelsey a story about a shy girl and a teen lord, and then Kelsey regaled Caroline with a tale of a neighborhood bisected by its obsession with a bisected fig.
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