Short story identification question: Harried wife/mother on a holiday
June 10, 2018 12:02 PM Subscribe
Looking for a specific short story concerning a family in a country house on holiday.
I'm trying to identify a short story that I read at least ten years ago (but possibly more). I believe the setting was in the UK. The main character is a woman who is on a holiday with her family, which includes husband and some children, as well as some additional guests including a younger woman. They have driven somewhere in the country and are all staying in the same house. The main character is chided by her husband and the other guests for being too uptight and unable to relax, however she is just trying to make the holiday run smoothly. She has planned all the meals, done all the shopping and packing, and does the bulk of the work around the house including the cooking and cleaning. At one point the younger woman makes a meal using many of the ingredients in the kitchen, and everyone says how great it is and how the main character should just be more relaxed like the younger woman, but the main character is now thinking about how difficult it will be to make the rest of the meals as much of the food in the kitchen has now been used up. Also she is responsible for cleaning up the mess. Basically the theme is how the main character is performing all the typical duties of a wife and mother, but the other characters don't appreciate her work and criticize her for not being more relaxed. I think it could have been in an anthology of feminist short stories, or else in a collection of stories by the same author. Also I feel like the author is/was very well known.
I'm trying to identify a short story that I read at least ten years ago (but possibly more). I believe the setting was in the UK. The main character is a woman who is on a holiday with her family, which includes husband and some children, as well as some additional guests including a younger woman. They have driven somewhere in the country and are all staying in the same house. The main character is chided by her husband and the other guests for being too uptight and unable to relax, however she is just trying to make the holiday run smoothly. She has planned all the meals, done all the shopping and packing, and does the bulk of the work around the house including the cooking and cleaning. At one point the younger woman makes a meal using many of the ingredients in the kitchen, and everyone says how great it is and how the main character should just be more relaxed like the younger woman, but the main character is now thinking about how difficult it will be to make the rest of the meals as much of the food in the kitchen has now been used up. Also she is responsible for cleaning up the mess. Basically the theme is how the main character is performing all the typical duties of a wife and mother, but the other characters don't appreciate her work and criticize her for not being more relaxed. I think it could have been in an anthology of feminist short stories, or else in a collection of stories by the same author. Also I feel like the author is/was very well known.
Response by poster: Not Christmas-themed; I'm fairly certain it took place during a summer holiday.
posted by tractorfeed at 12:42 PM on June 10, 2018
posted by tractorfeed at 12:42 PM on June 10, 2018
Was it definitely a short story? This is shouting "Iris Murdoch novel" to me, but I can't put my finger on which...
posted by altolinguistic at 1:59 PM on June 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by altolinguistic at 1:59 PM on June 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Mother's Milk, by Edward St. Aubyn? Set mostly in Provence, in 2001; it's the third of the Patrick Melrose novels.
posted by virago at 2:10 PM on June 10, 2018
posted by virago at 2:10 PM on June 10, 2018
I read this long ago but I don't remember the title/author either. It was during the summer hols and the cottage was in the south of England. The young woman was the new girlfriend of one of their male friends who'd divorced his first wife and the (same age) narrator missed her company; GF whipped up a gourmet meal using all the exotic yummy things that were meant for other meals. Rosamunde Pilcher maybe? Jilly Cooper? someone from that era. It could still be Maeve Binchy, London Transports was another one of her short story collections.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:16 PM on June 10, 2018
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:16 PM on June 10, 2018
Best answer: Weekend by Fay Weldon (PDF link).
Winning Google string "Martin cottage feminist story," remembered because my professor opened the discussion of this story by saying, "My God, Martin is a real ass, isn't he?"
posted by Snarl Furillo at 7:22 PM on June 10, 2018 [11 favorites]
Winning Google string "Martin cottage feminist story," remembered because my professor opened the discussion of this story by saying, "My God, Martin is a real ass, isn't he?"
posted by Snarl Furillo at 7:22 PM on June 10, 2018 [11 favorites]
Response by poster: Yes that is it! Thank you so much. And with a pdf link too!
Martin truly is an ass.
posted by tractorfeed at 1:55 AM on June 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
Martin truly is an ass.
posted by tractorfeed at 1:55 AM on June 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
Martin is an ass, and he currently makes more money than she does, but soon, very soon, he won't.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 8:13 AM on June 11, 2018
posted by Lesser Shrew at 8:13 AM on June 11, 2018
"her life was a mass of amends, one way or another. "
I'll just be over here in the corner, seeing if I can figure out how to start breathing again.
posted by Weftage at 8:24 AM on June 11, 2018
I'll just be over here in the corner, seeing if I can figure out how to start breathing again.
posted by Weftage at 8:24 AM on June 11, 2018
Yeah, wow, I don't have anything to contribute to this search because I just read this story for the first time via this link. Wow. Martin is an ass, and this story is really something. Thanks.
posted by CiaoMela at 12:49 PM on June 11, 2018
posted by CiaoMela at 12:49 PM on June 11, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by XtineHutch at 12:30 PM on June 10, 2018