Lodging in the Gertner’s guest room in Pentiment isn’t exactly a life of luxury, but it’s comfortable enough. Except that is for the pangs of guilt. It’s only when you return to the farmhouse at night that you realize what it means to be renting out the upper floor – five Gertners are crammed into a pair of single beds downstairs, including the formidable Big Jorg, with the elderly sixth scrunched up in a wooden chair by the hearth. Yes, you’re paying rent, and they don’t complain about the arrangement, but you can’t help viewing your presence as a terrible imposition.
