‘Where on earth have all my dishcloths got to?’ said Pamela, when I returned to the kitchen for the next consignment. ‘I used to have simply masses of them.’
‘It’s not fair!’ Millie was wailing when I returned to the dining room. ‘I don’t see why she’s got to act as if everything’s a personal injury to her. It’s not as if she can stop us. She may as well just be nice about it.’
‘Being old-fashioned,’ observed Mr Madden, uncharacteristically epigrammatical, ‘is hardly an unreasonable quality in a parent. Your mother’s entitled to her opinion, as am I. Don’t see why we should pretend to be pleased if we’re not.’
‘Your father’s got a point,’ nodded Mark diplomatically. His forehead shone with sweat.
‘Mummy and Daddy are only being honest,’ added Caroline. ‘I do think you’re being a teensy bit oversensitive, Millie.’
‘There’s no need to stick your tongue right up their arses,’ said Martin crudely.
‘Daddy!’ shrieked Caroline. ‘Derek!’
‘Steady on,’ said Derek, although to whom it was not clear.
‘I can see your point, mate,’ said Toby, grinning horribly at Mark. ‘I’d want to keep my options open too.’
‘That’s not funny,’ said Millie.
‘If you really believe that Mummy and Daddy can’t stop you,’ rallied Caroline, ‘then I don’t see why you’re so upset. It suggests that you do care what they think.’
‘Of course she cares,’ said Martin. ‘She just wants their blessing.’
‘Exactly,’ nodded Millie.
‘I heard that,’ snapped Caroline, turning on Martin.
‘What did he say? What did he say?’ implored Toby.
‘I won’t repeat it. Something very rude, not surprisingly. Our boy genius doesn’t seem to have all that much imagination.’
Martin was mouthing something at Toby, who was chortling oafishly, leaning across the table.
‘Look, let’s just change the subject, can we?’ said Mark wearily.
‘I hope you’re all hungry!’ announced Pamela, bearing in a joint of meat on a vast silver platter.
I sat down in my chair as Mr Madden got up and prepared to carve. My hands were resting in my lap; but presently I felt the warm, clammy pressure of another hand, Martin’s, taking one of mine. He removed it from my lap and held it under the table. I glimpsed him out of the corner of my eye. He was looking straight ahead, as if nothing unusual had happened. I didn’t resist his gesture, which I took to be one of comfort and solidarity. What surprised me more was that I actually seemed to be having some physical response to it. Waves of electricity were passing from his hand up my arm. I did not interpret this as proof of some deeply submerged romantic feeling for Martin on my part. It was merely, I felt sure, that I was not touched very often by another human being. A plate of meat and vegetables arrived in front of me. The pâté had served to awaken rather than satiate my appetite; and at the sight of the plate, saliva began to prickle in my mouth. I wondered how I would be able to eat with Martin gripping my right hand.
‘Dig in!’ cried Mr Madden cheerfully.
‘Bon appetit!‘ said Toby.
‘This looks delicious,’ said Millie.
‘Great,’ affirmed Mark.
‘Mummy’s gone to so much trouble,’ declared Caroline.
‘Looks splendid, Mrs M.,’ said Derek.
‘Happy birthday, darling,’ said Pamela, leaning towards her husband and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
‘Hmmph!’ exclaimed Mr Madden, who evidently felt it was not worth his while pointing out again that it was not yet his birthday.
I picked up my fork face-up in my left hand — it is surprisingly easy to do this, once you accustom yourself to it — and began to eat. The food tasted good. My wineglass sat untouched in front of me. Martin shifted his grip slightly, squeezing my fingers tighter. I squeezed back. We turned our heads and our eyes met; and we both smiled.
Reading Group Guide
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. The Country Life could be seen as a modern take on Jane Eyre, as well as on a certain popular type of British novel that extolls the virtues of country living. How does Rachel Cusk play with the themes and plot of Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel, and with the perceived ideals of a rural existence?
2. What role does Martin play in bringing Stella to a better understanding of herself? How are Martin and Stella alike?
3. Stella tells Martin: “I don’t think that happiness is the be-all and end-all of everything…. I happen to believe that the search for happiness is often itself the greatest cause for unhappiness.” How does the resolution of the novel support or refute Stella’s belief? Do you agree with her assertion?
4. Stella finds Pamela Madden puzzling and intimidating, until she is able to separate “the reality of Pamela’s situation from the manner in which she represented it.” How does this split between reality and appearance manifest itself in the Maddens, in Stella’s own life, and in the novel as a whole?
5. What purpose do Stella’s visits to the postal clerk serve?
6. When she arrives at Franchise Farm, Stella is almost immediately overtaken by all manner of physical calamity and destruction. What does her misfortune say about her, about her surroundings, and about her decision to embark on this new life?
7. Class is often an issue in British life and British fiction. Stella sees her younger brother as a victim of her parents’ social aspirations, while she believes her older brother was made “homogenous” by the same desires. Do the Maddens, and the village, bear out Stella’s sense that class has a dangerous power to destroy individuality, whether literally or figuratively?
8. In what ways is The Country Life a morality story? A farce?
9. “It’s no good saying that if people aren’t perfect you’re not going to love them. That’s what families are all about. They absorb things. They grow round them. They may end up looking all twisted and ugly, but at least they’re strong.” By the novel’s end, do you think Stella would agree with this statement of Martin’s?