Passage 38

Steve Courtney wrote historical novels. Not, he was quick to explain, overcolourful love stories of the kind that made so much money for so many women writers, but novels set, and correctly set, in historical periods. Whatever difference he saw in his own books, his readers did not seem to notice it, and his readers were nearly all women. He had studied at university, but he had not been a particularly good student, and he had never afterwards let any academic knowledge he had gained interfere with his writing.

Helen, his wife, who did not have a very high opinion of her husband's ability as a novelist, had been careful to say when she married him that she was not historically minded.

Above all, Helen was doubtful whether her relationship with Steve would work at all in the village of Stretton, to which they had just moved. It was Steve who had wanted to move to the country, and she had been glad of the change, in principle, whatever doubts she was now having about Stretton as a choice. But she wondered whether Steve would not, before very long, want to live in London again, and what she would do if he did. The Stretton house was not a weekend cottage. They had moved into it and given up the London flat altogether, partly at least, she suspected, because that was Steve's idea of what a successful author ought to do. However, she thought he was not going to feel like a successful author half as much in Stretton as he had in London. On the other hand, she supposed he might just start dashing up to London for the day to see his agent or have lunchwith his publisher, leaving her behind in Stretton, and she thought on the whole she would like that.

1. What was Steve's attitude towards women who wrote love stories?

   1. He would have liked to earn as much money as they did.

   2. He was afraid of being compared unfavorably with them.

   3. He did not think he could write about the same subjects.

   4. He had a low opinion of the kind of books they wrote.

2. What did Helen have to be careful to hide?

   1. Her lack of interest in history.

   2. Her low opinion of her husband's writing.

   3. Her dislike of her husband's admirers.

   4. Her inability to understand his books.

3. What were Helen's feelings about the move from London to Stretton?

   1. She wanted to remain in the country.

   2. She had been unwilling to leave London.

   3. She thought it was time to return to London.

   4. She would have preferred a weekend house in the country.

4. Helen thought Steve might not be content in Stretton because

.

1. he would not be able to write so well in the country

2. he would not feel so important in Stretton

3. his relationship with Helen was changing

4. he would not be lonely without all his London friends

1. The passage as a whole suggests that Steve's novels were .

   1. popular but unimportant

   2. serious works of literature

   3. admired for their historical truth

   4. written with women readers in mind