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Edith Holler

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Edith Holler

By: Edward Carey
Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
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The witty and entrancing story of a young woman trapped in a ramshackle English playhouse--and the mysterious figure who threatens the its very survival
The year is 1901. England's beloved queen has died, and her aging son has finally taken the throne. In the eastern city of Norwich, bright and inquisitive young Edith Holler spends her days among the boisterous denizens of the Holler Theatre, warned by her domineering father that the playhouse will literally tumble down if she should ever leave its confines. Fascinated by tales of the city she knows only from afar, she decides to write a play of her own: a stage adaptation of the legend of Mawther Meg, a monstrous figure said to have used the blood of countless children to make the local delicacy known as Beetle Spread. But when her father suddenly announces his engagement to a peculiar, imposing woman named Margaret Unthank, heir to the actual Beetle Spread fortune, Edith scrambles to protect her father, the theatre, and her play--the one thing that's truly hers--from the newcomer's sinister designs.

Teeming with unforgettable characters, Edith Holler is a surprisingly modern fable of one young woman's struggle to escape her family's control--and to reveal inconvenient truths about the way children are used.©2023 Edward Carey (P)2024 W.F. Howes Ltd. Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Witty Theatre Royalty
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Having just finished a spell at university studying highly literary books, Edith Holler was just the explosion of joy, of love, of insanity, I needed to remind me that stories can be so, bounding over the page with a mad little giggle, hiding in corners, springing out with a great gleeful "Boo!".

The performance of this book is exceptional. The narrator brings The Holler theatre to life, creaking her way through dusty corridors, booming across the stalls, and embodying Edith so perfectly I could imagine her recording in the booth, a flailing figure of rags, greyness and blank dollish eyes.

I've read about a hundred books so far this year. This comes out on top. It was just what I needed.

Batshit Crazy in the best possible way!

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Carey’s novels are all so exactly themselves they absorb your interest and resonate sending tremors through usual preoccupations with genre or plot or any other solid notable feature. Edith Holler has the delicate features of magic and is like the fever dream of an educated consumptive. I love all of his books and especially liked this one which crescendoed to a conclusion. The narrator is exactly right and read brilliantly.

Distinctive and vivid characters and narrator

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A wonderfully dark, yet uplifting story told in beautiful language. The atmosphere was gripping, the characters vivid and memorable. The narrator did an excellent job of capturing Edward Careys magical story telling genius. Will stay with me for a long time! <3

mesmerizing

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I don’t know what induced me to download this tape. I very rarely give up on a book halfway through, but found this profoundly depressing and rather revolting.

Not for me

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