Just started reading Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal starts talking about Clarice’s “string of gold add-a-beads.” What is he talking about?
“All those tedious thank-yous, permitting all that sincere fumbling, getting all sticky once for every bead.” I don’t understand what this is about.
Here’s a link to the Search Inside page on Amazon.
um, oops. Can a mod fix the coding for me?
An add-a-bead was a type of necklace. It was a thin chain - my mom’s was gold - for which you could purchase additional beads. Many parents gave them to their daughters, and would buy a bead for birthdays, Christmas, graduation and other special occasions. If relatives knew the girl had the necklace they would often give beads, too.
I think Hannibal is implying that Clarice let young boys fumble with her body and get her all sticky after they gave her a gold bead for her necklace.
Some jewelry stores still have these, in hollow gold beads or pearls. The idea is to have a complete string by the time the girl grows up.