GCSE Rollercoasters: The Withered Arm and Other Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy. Published by Oxford University Press
Thomas Hardy’s The Withered Arm and Other Wessex Tales is a selection of short stories in which the author depicts a Wessex poised on the brink of modernity and reason, yet with one foot still firmly lodged in the past.
The eerie title story, The Withered Arm, explores the cyclical nature of a curse. Rhoda Brook is an outcast milkmaid, rumoured witch, and mother to Farmer Lodge’s illegitimate son. When Lodge brings his pretty young wife Gertrude to the village, Rhoda responds with a curiosity fuelled by jealousy. She persuades her son to report back on Gertrude’s appearance.
One night, Rhoda dreams of Gertrude as an evil apparition. She grabs her attacker’s arm before waking, shaken. When Gertrude visits the next day, she reveals a mark on her arm in the exact same spot where Rhoda seized her in the dream. Gertrude’s arm worsens, her husband slowly loses interest in her, and she spends many years frantically seeking a cure. A super folk tale!
Other high points include The Son’s Veto and The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion. The stories are small and personal, but the tragic aspects are rendered universal by a sense of helplessness in the face of Fate and the social expectations of the period.
Rollercoasters are new editions of heritage texts and are nicely designed, with flexible yet sturdy covers ensuring lightness and readability. However, they lack background information on the
stories and the author. There is no section dedicated to study tips, essential questions, or explanation of obscure words and slang. Also in the series is Wuthering Heights (see review at
www.inkpellet.co.uk), Silas Marner, and A Christmas Carol. Study guides are
also available.