• PSYCHOLOGY

The Gloucester book club recently discussed Cold Comfort Farm (1932), a debut novel by journalist Stella Gibbons. Although short on neurological pathology, it explores themes of human nature, motivation and manipulation from which we can all learn. The book was intended as a satire based on a selection of romantic novels about life in the countryside that were highly popular in the early 20th century. The resulting comedic novel parodies numerous characters and elements.

The story tells of a young metropolitan woman (Flora), who when suddenly orphaned and faced with the potential need to go out and work, seeks to sponge off distant family who live and work on Cold Comfort Farm in rural Sussex. There she finds a cast of eccentric extended family and employed workers, very much set in …