Mark Sutton

It's written in 1899.

And I think in really a lot of ways, it's an early example of what would later we would think of as Southern literature, which kind of

wasn't its own necessarily established genre yet in 1899, but would later become one with people like William Faulkner.

But it's also a great feminist work from the late 19th century in which the main character dares to be a woman who has sexual desires and dares to want independence.

And written as it was before A Room of One's Own and having A Room of One's Own and A Space of One's Own is really one of the themes of the book.

And I think in a funny way, it's sort of a companion to a work like A Doll's House in the way that feminist thinking and ideology was emerging in literature.

towards the end of the 19th century.

And of course, the predominantly male critics of the time found this book to be horrific and insulting.

And although it wasn't banned, it was roundly condemned.

But it's a great book and I was glad to revisit it.

Well, yes, they're in that kind of in-between stage in their life.

They're both early career academics at varying stages and affected in various ways by the casualisation of the academic workforce, which means that a holiday like the holiday they're going on to Bali is a rare indulgence for them and one they can't readily afford.

But it's the first holiday they've been on a long time, and as we learn, the last holiday they went on together...

was kind of a testing ground, a litmus test in a way for their relationship and concluded with them breaking up for a short time before almost wordlessly drifting back together after a few months.

And one of the interesting things about Tom and Clara's relationship and one of the ways it's very subtly drawn is they're a couple who are getting on in their lives.

As you say, they're in their sort of mid-30s.

At 30, come on, getting on.

Well, they...

When I say they're getting on, they are at a stage in their life where they want to be or should be locking down what their careers are going to be, making decisions about whether or not they want to have a family, making decisions about whether or not they want to get married or buy a house or do whatever things people do.

But they're not making any of these decisions.