That month in Oxgodby with its kind people, warm summer days and nights, new friendships, infatuation with the vicar's wife, and a yet unknown masterpiece he is restoring, all contribute to the healing of his psyche. It was sometimes boring and disorganized, and also sometimes inspired and filled with big, important “thinks.

Carr has a knack for bringing certain scenes into sudden, sharp focus, rather as waves lift forgotten things to the surface. In the final paragraphs Carr tries to shift the focus from the vicar’s wife to the sustaining noblesse of artistic aspiration but it felt a bit forced. This is the sort of efficient novella that demands a short, incisive review full of judiciously-chosen adjectives, and presumably that's what it will get if MJ ever gets around to reading it.Much of the year was a struggle to survive in what was a strangely different culture to him; his British salary converted into dollars was pitifully inadequate to meet American costs of living. Birkin makes two references to the mural probably being of Luke 16: initially, he refers to “the judge and his bailiff; below them, three Lords of Luke 16” and later, it’s “the three brothers” of the same chapter.

People move away, grow older, die, and the bright belief that there will be another marvelous thing around each corner fades. But it will also reveal to you how those little moments in the past have shaped you into the person you are right now. His nerves are shot from his experiences in the war, and he views a month in the country as therapeutic. We don't know how those themes will be treated, what attention to detail we will find or if the language will delight us or otherwise. A month in the country tells of the insignificant piece of time in Tom Birkin’s life when he passed by the provincial town of Oxgodby.

Perhaps It is this simplicity and normality that affects Birken the most profoundly, for his life has been shredded by the war. I thought it was written in the 1920s and would be an understated tastefully written meditation on the healing powers of art.

There are some sad lines here, about what Tom thinks God looks like in the small town where he's working: “uncompromising. Dust Jackets are not guaranteed and when still present, they will have various degrees of tear and damage. If the author of this book had more appropriately named this Elegy of a Broken Man rather than A Month in the Country, I think my preconceptions and attitudes would have met him in that proper space rather than taken a continuous nose dive into confusion.I intend to read some novels that are first World War based for this year’s anniversary and this one is the first. Their manes were plaited with patriotic ribbons, their harness glowed – those great magical creatures soon to disappear from highways and turning furrow. Slim as it is, this is a tender and elegant novel that seemingly effortlessly weaves several strands together. It is a picture of doom predating the fantastical, terrifying visions of Bruegel by at least a hundred years.