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A Wayside Tavern

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About this listen

A Wayside Tavern tells the story of a Suffolk drinking place from the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, until the present day. The Roman veteran, crippled and left behind, worshipped Mithras, so the place became known as the One Bull and down through the centuries it became a clearing house for contraband, a miniature Hell Fire Club, a fashionable hotel, a mere pub. Across the yard, was the church of St Cerdic, king and martyr, who fought the Danes and was famous for the miracles performed at his shrine. His remains were lost in the Reformation but something remained. Inside the inn, despite all external changes, one passion raged – to retain possession.

©1980 Norah Lofts (P)2011 Soundings Historical Fiction Fiction
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I really admire the amount of research Norah Lofts made to produce this book.

Enjoyed every page.

marvellous!

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Misery, misery, misery. Every one of the characters either dies before their time, is killed in some way, or ends up having an extremely unhappy life. One sentence that rings out at me: 'A man must be master in his own house'. So he proceeds to be a tyrant and is hated by all around him.

Very gloomy. Not a hint of any happy endings.

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Read this book years ago, and remembered it with great fondness. Listening to it on Audible reminded of how good it was. To follow the life of a building through 100s of years all within the ownership of the same family is heartwarming. To have the Mithras linked name from the start is also great.

Brilliant

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I had read this book many years ago, but I had forgotten most of it, so it was wonderful to listen to it again, fresh as if I had never read it before. Excellent narrator added to the experience. I would thoroughly recommend this book as it was enchanting from beginning to end

A wonderful endearing storh

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What did you like most about A Wayside Tavern?

I love stories set around a building or a place, and going back in time. Nothing beats Norah Lofts House trilogy, but A Wayside Tavern is a short short version of that type of story.

What did you like best about this story?

Difficult to say. I can't realy point to any place in the novel. It all rushed by somehow and melted into one pot.

Which character – as performed by Jonathan Keeble – was your favourite?

I liked his Adam, a kind and thoughtful man. Keebles voice sounded just right. I always enjoy Keeples narration of Norah Lofts characters although his version of a kitchenmaid in A Wayside Tavern sounded just a little bit too naive-countrygirl. I say this with a grin on my face.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

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Any additional comments?

I wished Norah Lofts had made this novel into a trilogy. I felt, after each period, that there was more to tell. It felt like pacing through time and history, even like without a thread apart from it being the same family keeping the tavern.

Not quite up to Lofts' usual standard

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