The Country Life (novel) "The Country Life" won a 1998 Somerset Maugham Award, and was selected as one of the Notable Books for Adults of 2000 by the American Library Association. The Country Life (novel) The Country Life is a comedic novel by Rachel Cusk, first published in 1997, which draws on Stella Gibbons' "Cold Comfort Farm" and Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre". It won a 1998 Somerset Maugham Award. The novel is a comedy that draws on both "Cold Comfort Farm" by Stella Gibbons and "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë. Stella Benson, the first-person narrator, abruptly abandons her life in London to take a
Stella Linden Stella Linden Stella Linden (born Stella M Marsden on 5 June 1919 - 23 January 2005) was an actress and writer, best known for mentoring playwright John Osborne and for writing the film "Two a Penny". She was the wife of actor Terrence Edward Duff—better known by his stage name Patrick Desmond. She died in 2005 in New Mexico. Stella was born to Ruby Mary Wimbush and Charles W Marsden in 1919. Her mother shared ownership of the Wimbush chain of confectionery shops in Birmingham with other members of the family. Stella was particularly close to her aunt, Olive Wimbush,