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veteran employed to uncover a mural in a village church that was thought to exist under coats of whitewash. At the same time another veteran is employed to look for a grave beyond the churchyard walls. Though Birkin is an unbeliever, there is prevalent religious symbolism throughout the book, mainly
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is wise and wary, aware of its temporality. When he arrives in
Oxgodby, Birkin knows very well life is not all ease and intimacy, long summer days with "winter always loitering around the corner." He has experienced emotional cruelty in his failed marriage. As a soldier, he witnessed death:
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brighter for it. Birkin's idyll in the country is brought into relief by what Birkin has gone through in the past and the disappointments that, it is implied, await him. Carr's great art is to make it clear that joy is inseparable from the pain and oblivion which unmake it.
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Many of the incidents in the novel are based on real events in Carr's own life, and some of the characters are modelled on his family.
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as Birkin recalls the summer uncovering the mural, when he healed from his wartime experiences and a broken marriage.
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dealing with judgement. The novel explores themes of
England's loss of spirituality after the war, and of happiness,
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380:"Book Review of a Month in the Country, by J.L. Carr | Open Letters Monthly - an Arts and Literature Review"
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The text finishes with the words "Stocken, Presteigne, 1978". Although the book is set in
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completed a radio adaptation of the book, which was first broadcast on the
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Stanford's
Another Look book club reborn with J. L. Carr's
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382:. Archived from the original on 16 February 2010
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949:Categories
933:Jackie Kay
875:Pat Barker
818:Carol Lake
794:The Levels
709:J. L. Carr
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366:References
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303:Presteigne
260:Background
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