Quote 22
I suppose it was mainly us newcomers who talked about "dream futures" that winter, though a number of veterans did too. […] It couldn't last, of course, but like I say, just for those few months, we somehow managed to live in this cosy state of suspension in which we could ponder our lives without the usual boundaries. (12.22)
At the Cottages, Kathy and her friend enjoy spending time in their little bubble. Now there's no Miss Lucy to tell them not to talk about dream futures. Instead, they can pretend that anything is possible. What do you think about the way Kathy describes these conversations about dreams? Why is it a "state of suspension"?
Quote 23
Ruth began telling us about the sort of office she'd ideally work in, and I immediately recognised it. She went into all the details—the plants, the gleaming equipment, the chairs with their swivels and castors—and it was so vivid everyone let her talk uninterrupted for ages. […] In fact, listening to her, I even started wondering if maybe it was all feasible: if one day we might all of us move into a place like that and carry on our lives together. (12.28)
Ruth's dream future comes from an advertisement she sees on the ground. At first, Kathy's a downer. But eventually even Kathy can't help but hope that maybe just maybe this dream future is a real possibility. Talk about the power of persuasion.
Quote 24
That was the only time, as I stood there, looking at that strange rubbish, feeling the wind coming across those empty fields, that I started to imagine just a little fantasy thing, because this was Norfolk after all, and it was only a couple of weeks since I'd lost him. I was thinking about the rubbish, the flapping plastic in the branches, the shore-line of odd stuff caught along the fencing, and I half-closed my eyes and imagined this was the spot where everything I'd ever lost since my childhood had washed up, and I was now standing here in front of it, and if I waited long enough, a tiny figure would appear on the horizon across the field, and gradually get larger until I'd see it was Tommy, and he'd wave, maybe even call. The fantasy never got beyond that—I didn't let it […]. (23.49)
This is Kathy's last daydream of the book. Do you think it's a happy dream or a sad one? Or maybe it's something in between. Check out how Kathy sets up a mental roadblock for anything beyond Tommy waving to her from the horizon. Why do you think she does this? What's on the other side of that roadblock?