We Live Here Now

“The house stands alone on a hill, the drive simply a turning off a country lane, marked by old stone walls. Beyond, all I can see is moorland, wild and untamed, a spattering of snow here and there that has refused to melt. No sheep or cows. Just uneven ground and rough shrubs amid rocky outcrops.”

Pinborough sets a Gothic tone in this description of Larkin Lodge. The location, “alone on a hill,” emphasizes the house’s isolation from society and its new owners’ potential vulnerability. The barren, snow-patched moorland, devoid of livestock, suggests an inhospitable landscape. Meanwhile, “wild and untamed” conveys nature and the elements as a force beyond control. The passage prepares the reader for the psychological tension that unfolds in the narrative.

“Marriage is teamwork.”

Freddie’s assertion becomes a refrain, repeated by several of the book’s characters. On its surface, “Marriage is teamwork” is a familiar platitude suggesting a partnership of mutual effort and shared goals. However, the sentiment is undercut by Pinborough’s depiction of long-term relationships that are lonely and adversarial. Throughout the novel, marriage is presented as the opposite of teamwork as the characters pursue their own agendas and deceive their spouses.

“The guilt—the constant fear of discovery—is a cancer inside me.”

Freddie’s description of guilt as a cancer is a metaphor that conveys the emotion’s consuming, invasive quality. Cancer spreads silently within the body, destroying from within, just as Freddie’s guilt over his gambling debts corrodes his psyche. On the surface, the quotation makes Freddie appear remorseful, but the emphasis on “fear of discovery” suggests his guilt is self-centered, focusing on his dread of exposure rather than the transgression itself.