Cold Comfort Farm

Among the many elements of the loam and lovechild genre that Cold Comfort Farm parodies is an ominous air of mystery. Gibbons sprinkles a fair number of bizarre mysteries throughout her story, but none of them are resolved by the end of the book.

Early on, Adam discovers that one of his beloved cows has lost her wooden leg. The rest of the family reproaches him for the cow’s missing limb, but the reader never learns exactly what happened. Did the wooden leg just drop off? Why is the animal walking around as if she absent-mindedly lost her cowbell instead of one of her limbs? Why does she have a wooden leg in the first place? In a later chapter, another cow loses her foot, presumably also made of wood, and the author never reveals neither the meaning nor the circumstances surrounding this bizarre injury.

When Judith first writes to Flora to invite her to stay, Judith hints darkly at something Amos did to Flora’s father and that amends must be made. Apparently, this wrong involves money because Judith refuses to take payment from Flora and says that Robert Poste’s child must have her rights. Though they are key elements that drive the early events of the plot, neither of these mysteries is explained to the reader.