Sensible, sophisticated Flora Poste has been expensively educated to do everything but earn her own living. When she is orphaned at twenty, she decides her only option is to descend on relatives, the doomed Starkadders at the named Cold Comfort Farm. There is Judith in a scarlet, shawl, heaving with remorse for an unspoken wickedness;
raving old Ada Doom, who once saw something nasty in the woodshed; lustful Seth and despairing Reuben, Judith's two sons; and there is Amos, preaching fire and damnation to one and all. As the sukebind flowers, Flora takes each of the family in hand and brings order to their chaos. A sharp and clever parody of the melodramatic rural novels of the time, Cold Comfort farm was recently beautifully filmed for television and general release by John Schlesinger. It featured an all-star cast, including Kate Beckinsale as Flora, Eileen Atkins as Judith and Rufus Sewell as Seth.