‘It’s a way of examining life and the world,’ Geraldine went on. ‘Books show us the lives of others, because we can’t live all those lives—we can only live our own. Books can take us back in time or into the future. They expand our thinking. They show us new worlds. That’s what fiction is, what it does. It’s so powerful.’

Miki smiled uncertainly, still confused. But Geraldine was right: Miki had learned through reading her books.

‘I thought Bathsheba would have benefited from the guidance of a mother,’ Geraldine was saying. ‘It might have helped her avoid several mistakes.’

‘Bathsheba needed to make those mistakes,’ Miki observed.

‘We all need to make mistakes,’ Geraldine agreed. ‘But it’s hard for a young woman without a mother, isn’t it? How do you cope?’

‘I miss my mother,’ Miki admitted. ‘She was my friend.’

‘I was thinking of other ways that mums are important. Like being there to talk to and ask questions about the world. Showing daughters how a woman should behave. Sharing information about feminine things.’

Miki blushed—she wasn’t used to speaking frankly like this. Mother had taught her that her body was sacred and that purity was important, but everything else had been shrouded in silence. When Miki had her first period at fourteen, Mother had handed her a bundle of rags. Miki thought she was dying until Mother explained it was her monthly fertility cycle. You’re carrying sacred eggs that could become babies and grow into God’s servants, like you. That was all Mother had said—the rest Miki had learned in the shop, listening to the women. She knew now that there was nothing sacred about her eggs because all women had them. She’d also heard about sex and condoms, diaphragms, the morning-after pill—the women discussed everything. It had been education by stealth, but Geraldine didn’t need to hear that. ‘I make do,’ Miki said.

Geraldine’s eyebrows lifted, but she let it go and Miki was grateful. ‘Bathsheba is a great character, isn’t she?’ Geraldine went on. ‘Different from Tess, but tragic in her own way. Her judgement wasn’t always good.’

‘Like not marrying Gabriel Oakes in the first place,’ Miki said.

Geraldine smiled. ‘Do you think they were ready for each other in the beginning? Bathsheba certainly wasn’t, wild young thing that she was. And did Gabriel have the maturity and understanding to handle someone like her?’

Miki thought about this. ‘Gabriel needed to learn about himself too. He was proud. He shouldn’t have assumed Bathsheba would say yes when he proposed.’

‘No. One should never assume. How do you think she handled herself when she inherited her fortune? It was certainly a change in circumstances, wasn’t it?’