It's a gorgeous story
For those that don't know, musician Nick Cave has a newsletter 'The Red Hand Files'. There, he invites people to ask him questions that he goes on to answer in beautifully, digitally penned letters for everyone to read.
Tragically, Cave has lost two of sons and that grief has undoubtedly changed him. He started writing his soft, gorgeous letters for 'The Red Hand Files' almost four years ago. Why? He's answered that question himself, "for a long time I’d wanted to explore the idea of some form of communication with my audience that sat outside of music".
This week, somebody called Maisie from London asked him "Who do you want to win Love Island?". Not only was his response was unwavering and emotional, but also extremely surprising. On the one hand, because the public have largely turned against Luca, but also because get this — Nick Cave knows Luca pretty well.
Cave explains that his wife is hooked on the show, "Susie watches Love Island because we know one of the contestants, Luca. Luca was a school friend of our twins, Arthur and Earl," he explains, "As a consequence, Susie and I became friends with Luca’s parents, Maria and Michael. Maria is an antique dealer. Michael is a fishmonger. Luca is a fishmonger too".
He goes on to detail the first weeks after his son Arthur passed away, highlighting the quiet kindness expressed by Luca's mother towards Cave and his family, "Maria turned up on our doorstep with a tray of lasagne and basically looked after us. She barely said anything to us. She made us cups of tea. She cooked for us. She was just there. She was the one constant through a time of horror".
The letter is short and sweet, but illustrates just how generous and caring Luca's family truly are, "Maria reminded us that there was good in the world". He even goes on to share that Luca's father drops them fish regularly without charge. A generosity indicative of their family.
Cave concludes, "These people, Luca’s parents, are as good as people get, and they love their son, Luca. So, Susie watches Love Island and cheers him on, and hopes that he will win. I also hope that Luca wins, and wins soon, because then I can get the fucking TV back."
Read Nick Cave's 'The Red Hand Files' letter in full here.