I imagine that when my parents explained the stationery was for their child, the staff pictured an actual child. Not a grown adult with opinions about optimal gsm and texture. An actual child, small and sticky-fingered, expecting a colouring book. The evidence supports this.

In this series, I’ll go through the stationery I’ve collected along the way: how it feels to write with, how it holds up to fountain pens and ink, and—most importantly—whether it makes me feel like I’m Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love.