Coping with the Cottages

"In those early months, we'd somehow developed this idea that how well you were settling in at the Cottages - how well you were coping - was somehow reflected by how many books you'd read." - p. 123

The Cottages seem like a small scale version of Hailsham. It can't be too positive if it's something they have to cope with. They still have people from the real world who seem to be judging them for being different. They still have to deal with the stress of couples and not looking too immature. Kathy is still friends with the exact same people, and she is still, I think, secretly very jealous of Ruth. I don't know if she's jealous of Ruth's relationship with Tommy, her new friends, or her apparent intelligence. So far, the Cottages seem to be bringing out the worst in people. They all are trying way to hard to impress each other. I hope Ruth and Kathy can come to an understanding soon, but mainly I just want Ruth and Tommy to break up. Tommy seems to be too nice and genuine for Ruth.