Ein Festtag

Graham Swift's masterpiece "Jane, the Young Maid of Beechwood," tells the story of Jane and Paul, the scion of a wealthy family, who are having an affair. Secret messages and discreet meetings abound, but today, on this sunny March Sunday in 1924, Jane—whose family and the household staff are away—can simply lean her bicycle against the estate's wall, enter through the main portal, and slip into her lover's bed. It is a first and a last time, as Paul will soon marry—suitably. Later, around noon, she will wander lightly and naked through the expansive house, filled with the intoxicating intimacy of this exceptional morning, unaware that her life is about to shatter by the end of the day.