Every Woman Should Have a Purse of Her Own

Sarah Mustard’s purse contains many items that make her an excellent sleuth. Her car keys and her wallet are first on the list, requirements for her being able to get around both on and off the clock. The next key item would be her sunglasses which could at least partly conceal her identity, but also serves as a way to shield her eyes from the L.A. sun. She has a flashlight in case she needs to creep down any hidden passages at the spur of the moment or search through someone’s bag quickly. She also carries her handy dandy notebook and a pencil with her at all times so that she can quickly write down any sudden inspiration she has or if she needs to write down a license plate. Her last work related item found in her purse is a nice snack (this time goldfish) in case she gets caught out all night and needs quick nourishment.

As far as personal items in Sarah’s purse, Sarah is usually carrying a book, typically a classic. This time it is a Jane Austen novel. She is a big fan of Austen as well as Louisa May Alcott. Sarah also carries her hairbrush with her, because she is a woman after all, and does like looking nice.

I kind of struggled with this assignment, because I had a lot of items I wanted to include which aren’t exactly from the fifties, the time period of my character. I am pretty sure flashlights did not exist then. However, I decided in the end to ignore this and just use my objects from the current time period and try to make them  more symbolic. I chose to approach this prompt thinking about what Sarah would want from her personal life and then also what she should have on her body at all times because of her profession. Her bag is thus a mixture of sweet items that make Sarah herself, but also many of the cold thoughtless items that she must keep with her in order to do her job effectively.