Nutshell

by Ian McEwan

For her, a monologue is better than an exchange, preferable to another turn round the unweeded garden of their marriage.

Space! She should come in here, where lately I can barely crook a finger.

In my mother’s usage, space, her need for it, is a misshapen metaphor, if not a synonym. For being selfish, devious, cruel.

His visits don’t end, they fade.

When Dad comes to visit while his mother is asking for 'space'

architrave

is...the molded frame around a doorway or window.

gravid

means pregnant - (this word is used more than once)

rapine

meansthe violent seizure of someone's property.

Claude, this fraud

solipsism

is ...the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist.

cognate

means. related; connected

labile

means:of or characterized by emotions that are easily aroused or freely expressed, and that tend to alter quickly and spontaneously; emotionally unstable.

purulent,

meansconsisting of, containing, or discharging pus. (and is in the refrigerator too)

adamantine.

means unbreakable

memento mori.

is...an object serving as a warning or reminder of death, such as a skull.

viscera

are...the internal organs in the main cavities of the body, especially those in the abdomen, e.g. the intestines.

Trudy and Claude’s straggling plant grows a hopeful bud.

symbolic of their relationship as Trudy fights guilt over the murder

He’s undressing her, to date a peak of sensual generosity unscaled by him.

Claude (Baby thinks he is stupid)