I’ve written before about rivalry between women – a common theme in literature – in Rosamond Lehmann’s 1953 novel The Echoing Grove and Zoe Heller’s 2003 novel Notes on a Scandal. Female rivalry also appears in Elizabeth Day’s psychological thriller Magpie, entwining with the theme of infertility and the devastating emotional and psychological impact it can have on those affected. Published in 2021 Magpie is a gripping read with a clever, unexpected twist a third of the way through which forces the reader to reappraise what they have read so far.
The opening section of the novel is narrated from the perspective of Marisa, a children’s book illustrator. After a series of bad online dating experiences, she meets Jake at an event organised by the dating app she is signed up to and can’t believe her luck: he ‘always responded to her messages‘ and, at their first date, brings up the subject of children. Within three months they have moved in together and ‘[t]hey decided to start trying for a baby straightaway‘.
After an initial ‘honeymoon’ period, reality hits when it becomes clear that the house they are renting is too expensive for just the two of them to afford. Jake suggests getting a lodger. After some initial resistance, Marisa agrees, and 36 year-old Kate, who works for a film company, moves in.
Almost immediately Marisa feels unsettled by Kate’s presence, having ‘the fanciful notion that Kate has visited the house before‘. Kate ‘makes herself at home without any self-consciousness‘, placing ‘her toothbrush… in the master bedroom, on the shelf next to theirs...’ and leaving ‘her running trainers by the front door… sliding them against the skirting board every morning and trailing clods of dried earth across the doormat‘.
Marisa’s suspicions and anxieties grow, reaching a climax when she makes an unwelcome discovery, at which point the narration shifts to Kate’s perspective.
I’ll say no more to avoid spoiling the book for you.. The book’s title Magpie could be seen to reflect the theme of female rivalry as magpies have traditionally been associated with stealing because of their apparent penchant for collecting shiny objects to decorate their nests (though research carried out at Exeter University and reported in 2014 found that magpies are actually nervous of shiny objects – ). In traditional legends and folklore magpies are frequently associated with bad luck; the novel opens with Marisa looking around the house that she and Jake will move into, and a magpie flying in when the woman showing her around opens the glass doors into the garden. The one magpie recalls the traditional poem about magpies, and the good or bad luck associated with the number seen, as in the opening lines:
‘One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a girl
Four for a boy’
After Marisa and Jake have started trying for a baby, Marisa sees two magpies ‘on the lawn outside… strutting around each other, pecking the grass..’ And Marisa recalls the old rhyme: ‘One for sorrow, Marisa thought, two for joy. It was a sign, she told herself. She might be pregnant already..‘
Now to the title of this post: the rivalry that Marisa starts to feel with Kate also exhibits itself through cooking.
Early on, before Kate has moved in, Marisa cooks dinner for Jake and herself:
She had made macaroni cheese because he told her once that it was his favourite childhood meal, and she had a recipe that used four different types of cheese and salty lardons sizzled up in the frying pan.
Not long after Kate moves in, she insists on cooking dinner for the three of them. Whilst Marisa is unhappy about this, ‘Jake is delighted, especially when Kate says she’s cooking macaroni cheese‘, telling him she knows it’s his ‘favourite‘. Marisa knows she hasn’t told Kate about Jake’s ‘penchant for macaroni cheese‘ so knows Jake must have, unleashing a wave of jealousy and inner hostility towards Kate:
Ridiculous as it sounds, Marisa is proprietorial over the macaroni cheese. In her head she imagines telling Kate that her pasta dish won’t be necessary and that macaroni cheeese is one of her special dishes that she makes when her boyfriend who she is currently trying to get pregnant by needs cheering up, thank you very much
As Jake and Kate banter flirtatiously over the macaroni cheese, Marisa watches and ‘gets the most curious feeling that she is the odd one out.’
Macaroni cheese must have been the first pasta dish I had as a child and it was – and still is – a firm favourite. Reading that Marisa makes a version with four cheeses reminded me of a Heston Blumenthal recipe I came across and made a couple of times (with a few modifications) a while back. As one would expect with Heston Blumenthal, the recipe is precise and scientific and, whilst delicious, can feel a bit of a faff to make. So here is my version, with a more relaxed method and some variations in the cheeses used: and you could use a different selection of cheese yourself. I think the important thing is to use a variety of cheeses to provide contrasting textures and tastes. I like the combination of mellow cream cheese and sharp goat’s cheese, and gooey mozzarella with the grated parmesan which provides a golden crust for the final presentation. I didn’t bother with lardons, but you could easily fry up a handful and toss them into the mixture before placing under the grill.
COMPETITIVE MACARONI CHEESE
Ingredients (serves 3-4, depending on how hungry people are):
200g macaroni
300ml vegetable stock
4 tablespoons white wine
2 tablespoons cornflour
80g mozzarella, diced
80g cream cheese
25g goat’s cheese,
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
Method:
Cook the macaroni in a large saucepan of boiling water until al dente (cooked but firm to bite), drain and return to the saucepan.
Pour the vegetable stock and wine into a small saucepan and heat over a medium heat. Add the cornflour, heating until the mixture thickens, stirring all the time.
Add the stock mixture to the drained pasta, return to the heat and heat through gently. Stir the cream cheese and mozzarella through the pasta until it is more or less evenly distributed.
Spoon half the mixture into an ovenproof baking dish, dot the goat’s cheese on top, and then add the remaining pasta. Sprinkle the parmesan on top and place under a hot grill until the cheese melts and goes golden brown.
