“Cusk is hilarious in her dissection of upper-class manners and mysteries, sending her poor heroine to bump into every single one of their contradictions…. But Cusk’s true quarry in The Country Life is something much more delicate than class critique…. Stella is strange because strangeness is part of the human condition; she’s just a little more aware of it than most people.”
—Village Voice Literary Supplement

“Witty, sharp, strangely good-natured: the sort of book a person is sorry to put down.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Filled with situations that make a reader laugh out loud in sympathy … It’s farce, but written cleverly, with a droll, charmingly formal tone.”
—The Tampa Tribune Times

“Touching, hilarious … Stella is utterly lovable.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Thoroughly entertaining.”
—Marie Claire

“[A] skillful tale, marked by well-drawn characters and a confident style that winks without apology at its Austen-esque setting.”
—Library Journal (starred review)

“A sad and comic tale … Cusk demonstrates the wit and wisdom of those who have gone before, examining the human condition in microcosm and in turn producing some very rich literature.”
—Portland Oregonian