Chapter 5 Summary

During the first month of her marriage, Mary fills her days with redecorating the house, whitewashing the walls, replacing curtains made of sacking with actual cloth, sewing a new wardrobe for herself, and carefully embroidering her underwear—all with her own money. When these chores are complete, she finds herself bored and tries to fill her time by re-reading favorite books she had read several times in the days before her marriage. These, however, she finds boring and soon puts them all away.

She finds herself being made increasingly uncomfortable by the heat, asking Dick whether it's possible for him to put ceilings on the house instead of the corrugated iron that now constitutes the roof, which absorbs the heat and amplifies it within the house. He tells her ceilings are too expensive, but suggests that if the farm does well the...