Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

Ever played the dinner party game? Big Fashionista blogged about it recently and it got my brain whirring. Incidentally, if you don't read her blog already then you really should. Funny as hell.

Anyway, I really struggle with the real people version of this game. They'd probably all end up being men I lust after (quite difficult to narrow the list to 5) or v. posh historical figures who would make me feel like a pleb. I shall ponder on it and perhaps do a follow up post.

You know what's easy though? Fictional characters! (books, not tv or film. That's a whole other discussion) Actually, maybe it's not quite so easy. There are so many characters that I absolutely love to read about but they wouldn't necessarily be good company at a dinner party. Mr Darcy might be the ultimate romantic hero but I'm no Elizabeth Bennet so I'd just be sneered at or ignored throughout the whole meal. Mary Poppins would no doubt pull me up on my table manners. Dominic Alastair would get drunk and challenge someone to a duel. Awkward!

So my first choice is Bertie Wooster. Oh I know he's dim and that Jeeves is the person to go to if you want a proper conversation but Berties is funny and that's the main thing. We can talk about visiting country houses and 1920s & 30s fashion and suchlike. My friend Lisa is utterly convinced that my lovely Oscar cat is Bertie Wooster reincarnated in feline form so I'm fairly confident we'd get on well. If I was the sort of person who could spout quotations then Lord Peter Wimsey would be challenging Bertie for this place but I'd rather have someone sitting next to me that I can get tipsy and laugh with.



Chrestomanci, aka Christopher Chant, (who features in several Diana Wynne Jones books) is definitely coming too. I think I came across him first in Witch Week - he doesn't play a huge part in that book but he definitely made an impression on me. Tall, dark, handsome, vague, fond of cricket, the owner of a v. impressive castle and a splendid collection of dressing gowns, there is also the added bonus of him of liking small plain women who enjoy reading school stories. Wahey! In this fictional universe I would clearly have magical powers so he could teach me some new spells and generally be charming company.

Picture by chira-chira at Deviant Art. I love her stuff, especially this one featuring the wonderful cat Throgmorten.

Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina from the Falco series by Lindsey Davis are next on my list. You have to take them as a pair really but that's absolutely fine with me. They're both equally full of tales of life all over the Roman Empire and the crimes they've solved, plus I'm positive they'd both be excellent, if slightly sarcastic, company. The descriptions of all the food in the books always get my mouth watering so it'd be fun to see how Marcus and Helena enjoy a modern meal. And on a very shallow level, I've always wanted to be able to pull off a Roman hair style so Helena could give me some tips on that.

It is proving impossible to find an image that represents these two, so you can have Kevin McKidd looking all Roman instead.

And finally, Paddington Bear. I have an excellent recipe for gloriously sticky marmalade roll that I think he'd very much appreciate.


Add in enough wine and I'm sure this party will go beautifully. Bets on how long it takes Bertie to get drunk and try on Paddington's hat?

ps - Hope I didn't mislead anyone on my last post! The person who made the comment about the wedding photos wasn't the bride (she's amazing and loves me just the way I am), it was a relation of hers. Rude!