We Live Here Now

A raven keeps a vigil on Larkin Lodge. He has watched the house since his mate flew inside and never returned. Although he knows she is dead, he cannot leave. Cars and people arrive.

Emily and Freddie Bennett arrive at their new home, Larkin Lodge, in Dartmoor, on the Devon coast of England. The large, hillside house and the wintry moorlands surrounding it look uninviting. Emily immediately fears that buying the house was a mistake. She hides her disappointment from her husband, observing that she feels like a character “in a Brontë novel” (5). Freddie suggests that if she is Jane Eyre, he is her “Mr. Rochester.” However, Emily was thinking of a different book, Wuthering Heights. Emily walks with a stick because she is recovering from injuries that left her in a coma. Although she was promoted before her accident, she is now unemployed.

Freddie pretends to be cheerful, although he cannot get warm in the house. He feels guilty, reflecting on the terrible thing he has done and hoping Emily never finds out.