Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #120749 in Books
• Published on: 1998-06-05
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Synopsis
Stella Benson leaves her husband, her home, and her life in London to go to the village of Hilltop in Sussex. There she will be au pair to Martin Madden. Stella finds that she is unsuited to country life and what's more is intimidated by the Maddens. Is disaster staring her in the face?

From the Publisher
Rich and subtle novel about families, love and being alone
Stella Benson sets off for Hilltop, a tiny Sussex village housing a family that is somewhat larger than life. Her hopes for the Maddens may be high, but her station among them - as au pair to their irascible son Martin - is undeniably low. What could possibly have driven her to leave her home, job and life in London for such rural ignominy? Why has she severed all contact with her parents? Why is she so reluctant to talk about her past? "Like the novels of Evelyn Waugh or Stella Gibbons, The Country Life has a moral core, meticulously disguised by comedy. Cusk is a highly interesting, original writer and more unusually she is a joy to read" Helen Dunmore, The Times; "In this, her third novel, Rachel Cusk writes with the fastidiousness and delightful grace we have come to expect...Stella is a splendidly memorable creation" Sue Gaisford, Independent on Sunday; "This book is a delight...The Country Life is remarkable for two things; its humour and its menace...Its mixture of P.G.Wodehouse, Cold Comfort Farm and Jane Austen is a pleasure to read" Tibor Fischer, Sunday Express

Customer Reviews

Confused concept, muddled execution
This is pretty disappointing from Rachel Cusk. Her later novel, "The Temporary" is one of my favourite books but this is a missed opportunity. It tries to satirise a city-dweller having a midlife crisis by moving to the country but it just doesn't work. Despite being an intellectual high flier the central character of Stella seems to be struck down with dyspraxia as soon as she leaves Notting Hill and too many open goals are ignored (if you are going to write about the country at least put the boot into the Morris dancers!). Too many of the characters have back-stories which are hinted at but not explored and the open-ending may have worked better in a literary novel tackling deeper issues (such as Ishiguro's "Never let Me Go") but here it just seems like the author gave up.

The Country Life
My initial thought about this book was that the prose was a little over-written and old fashioned - it reminded me a bit of Jane Eyre. However, a few pages in and I was hooked. Stella is an extraordinary character, nothing ever goes right for her, and even a straightforward walk has to end in disaster. The other characters were completely over the top, and yet strangely believable. I grew to be quite fond of Martin and even Pam had her moments. The description of the excessively hot summer was very effective, I could almost feel the heat - no mean feat when you consider that I read several chapters in my lunch break whilst sitting on a carrier bag on a snow covered bench! Overall, a very good, compelling funny read. The only snag was the number of balls left in the air - the suggestion of incest, affairs, neighbourly disputes and Stella's future with the family were by no means resolved.

Brilliant, funny, compelling
"The Country Life" was the first book I ever read by Rachel Cusk. Though somewhat disappointed by her recent output (e.g. "In the Fold", "the Lucky Ones"), this novel, her second and also her best, retains its charm.

Basically it's about a young woman called Stella who decides to drop everything and escape from her past in order to take up a job as au pair to a disabled boy, Martin. The novel is basically about her time there and how she deals with everything her new situation throws at her.

I found Stella's story immensely enjoyable. Cusk's style of writing is extremely elegant and sharp, I'm not surprised to hear that she was educated at Oxford University. Not only does Cusk make the reader just fall in love with Stella, but she also makes said reader fall about laughing. She is an extremely witty writer and we can all recognise a bit of ourselves in Stella, as well as finding the other characters somewhat familiar. Let's face it, who doesn't know a Caroline?

All the supporting characters, from Mr Trimmer, to Karen Miller, even dear Thomas, the gardner, are absolutely superb and just as interesting as Stella. However, the best portraits in the book are Pamela and Martin. You really do feel as if they actually exist, they are so true to life, and so real. Toby and Mr Madden also deserve a special mention.

Cusk is also very daring in the way she handles daring themes such as incest etc. She is obviously an extremely intelligent woman and I would say that this is her best work to date, her masterpiece. One to read in the summer.