A Month in the Country (Penguin Modern Classics)

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There’s a touch of romance in the air, an element of mystery in the story behind the painting, and a gradual renewal of sorts for Birkin – a sense of restoration, both creatively and emotionally.

Reckoned by Penelope Fitzgerald to be his "masterpiece", A Month In The Country was initially published by The Harvester Press in 1980. Only after several months it was found that Channel 4 still owned the rights, and the film was eventually released on a limited-edition Region 2 DVD in late 2004. Funding for the film was scarce, and it eventually fell to Euston Films (a subsidiary of Thames Television) and Channel Four Films, who had had some success with low budget features such as My Beautiful Laundrette.At the same time, Charles Moon - a fellow damaged survivor of the war - has been asked to locate the grave of a village ancestor. Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing" (PDF). A Month in the Country Archived 17 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine at the British Film Institute. Being assigned this book as a college assignment, I wouldn't lie if I said I was a little wary of this book in the beginning--after all, assigned books can really be a hit or miss, with even the instructor's readings playing an important part in the enjoyment of such books. In reality, there is another purpose to Birkin’s visit: to find an escape or haven of sorts, an immersive distraction from the emotional scars of the past.

Several members of the local community were used as extras in the film, and local children were recruited by the director to collect butterflies to be released out-of-shot to create a "summer feeling". The constancy of Sunday worship, Chapel or Church; the tradition of food served to a family and guests sitting dutifully together, heads bowed, saying Grace. Experiences that we may have lost from our daily lives are remembered in delightful detail; the sounds of horses in the lanes coming to take a party out for a Sunday Treat, the deep still peace of the undisturbed countryside, with the interruption of `a vixen howling from the edge of some distant wood or the scream of some small creature set upon in the darkness'. It’s a love story of great poignancy about a missed chance, and it’s a memory of an irrecoverable past, of “blue remembered hills” that can’t be found again.Naturally, the project brings Birkin into contact with other residents in the village, many of whom are intrigued by his work. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others.

I don’t want to reveal much more about what happens in the novel, other than to give a flavour of some of the keynotes. Above all, this is a beautifully written novel imbued with a strong sense of longing, a nostalgia for an idyllic world. Mr Ellerbeck preaches at the Wesleyan chapel, and out of a sense of gratitude for their hospitality, Birkin becomes involved in the chapel community although he is a non-believer, perhaps because of the scenes of horror he witnessed in the war.Carr's blessedly small tale of lost love is also a small hymn about art and the compensating joy of the artist, both in giving and receiving.