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The Plague Charmer cover art

The Plague Charmer

By: Karen Maitland
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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Summary

The Plague Charmer, by Karen Maitland, author of the much-loved Company of Liars - her first novel of the plague - will chill and delight fans of Kate Mosse and C. J. Sansom in equal measure.

Riddle me this: I have a price, but it cannot be paid in gold or silver.

Porlock Weir, Exmoor, 1361. Thirteen years after the Great Pestilence, plague strikes England for the second time. Sara, a packhorse man's wife, remembers the horror all too well and fears for the safety of her children. Only a dark-haired stranger offers help but at a price that no one will pay.

Fear gives way to hysteria in the village, and when the sickness spreads to her family, Sara finds herself locked away by neighbours she has trusted for years. And as her husband - and then others - begin to die, the cost no longer seems so unthinkable.

The price that I ask from one willing to pay...a human life.

©2016 Karen Maitland (P)2016 Headline Digital

Critic reviews

"A compelling blend of historical grit and supernatural twists." ( Daily Mail)

What listeners say about The Plague Charmer

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    3 out of 5 stars

Superstitious Slugfest

This is a dark, dark book. There is precious little joy for Maitland's victims of the plague. The highlight for me was a narration masterclass from Jonathan Keeble and the last few hours of the book which turned out to be well worth the wait. Prior to that I found it a bit of a long haul and to be fair I guess common fisherfolk from the time were not exactly masters of wit. It did feel pretty slow going at times to me though and one of the relationships key to the plot was fairly unlikely.

Overall I'm pleased to have read it but the sheer glumness of the scenario does weigh heavily. Maitland has a good turn of phrase at times and I very much bought into the superstitious paranoia that dominated her medieval characters. A fascinating parallel was that both rich and poor alike shared their ignorance albeit expressed differently.

So, this is a dark tale set in dark times but with Keeble's impressive narration it's definitely worth a read.

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24 people found this helpful

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WOW!

What a pleasant surprise this book was and fantastic narration,who needs tv. One of my favourite all time books. Highly recommended.

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10 people found this helpful

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Intriguing.

I enjoyed this greatly. It is the second Karen Maitland I have listened to. The language pulls off the trick of sounding archaic but not like listening to Chaucer. The narrator is excellent, the characters are engaging. Will the created dwarf is very sympathetic. The language seems to be spoken in a late Victorian style, so understandable but archaic enough to keep disbelief suspended. And you will need to keep disbelief suspended, something I struggle to do but the neat trick of starting chapters with riddles or quasi magic traditions really helped get into a medieval mindset. An unusual and intriguing story, well constructed, brilliantly imagined and very well told.

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9 people found this helpful

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Dark and atmospheric

It took me a while to get hooked into this book - it's told through several points of view and it took me about an hour of listening to really get into the characters. After that, I found it addictive listening.

It's a dark tale, but the medieval setting is very believable. The narrator does a very good job, I feel, of differentiating between the different characters and the plot rolls on at a satisfying pace. I have also listened to the Company of Liars by the same author, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I feel this novel is just as good. I look forward to trying some other books by Karen Maitland.

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Totally Captivating

What did you like most about The Plague Charmer?

The variety of characters and how your interest in all of them was maintained.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Will or Sarah....you empathised with them.

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

Will

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

It has to be said that Jonathan Keeble's performance ( and that is what it was ) was totally superb....it was great reading and a great listen.

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8 people found this helpful

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The narration is amazing!

Wow - I swung between listening in awe of the vocal performance and not even noticing it because it was so good (if you see what I mean). The story was almost secondary but it was entertaining and I liked the characters a lot. But I will definitely buy more narrated by this guy!

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5 people found this helpful

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Karen Maitland at her best.

With a fantastic narrator this book grips you and doesn't let go til the very last word.

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5 people found this helpful

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The Plague Charmer

Excellent read again. Really great performance by Jonathon Keeble. Makes you think about the horrors of living during the time of plague.

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

avid dog walker and audio listener

wonderfully atmospheric story, really depicts life in the middle ages. Jonathan keeble absolutely superb.

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4 people found this helpful

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Addictive listen

Having listened to the very cleverly written 'A Company Of Liars', I thought that I'd enjoy this book... and I wasn't disappointed. The characters were nicely built throughout the story, the description of the scenery and life of the characters was so vivid, I could almost taste the sea and smell the stench of the plague pit.

Telling the story from the perspective of several characters was a great way to pull my investment into them and to understand and appreciate their point of reference, each chapter title tells you from whose perspective the story is being told.

My favourite part was how 'the Holy hag' managed to give herself some divine retribution!

The narrator did a fantastic job. I think i got confused once when the narrator forgot to change his character voice, but it didn't take long to work it out and certainly was not enough to spoil my experience in any way. I would definitely listen to this narrator again.

And I'll definitely be listening to this book again in the near future. Loved it.

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2 people found this helpful