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Gothic Tales

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

This Penguin Classic is performed by Olivia Forrest. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Laura Keanzler.

Elizabeth Gaskell's chilling Gothic tales blend the real and the supernatural to eerie, compelling effect. 'Disappearances', inspired by local legends of mysterious vanishings, mixes gossip and fact; 'Lois the Witch', a novella based on an account of the Salem witch hunts, shows how sexual desire and jealousy lead to hysteria; while in 'The Old Nurse's Story' a mysterious child roams the freezing Northumberland moors. Whether darkly surreal, such as 'The Poor Clare', where an evil doppelgänger is formed by a woman's bitter curse, or mischievous like 'Curious, if True', a playful reworking of fairy tales, all the stories in this volume form a stark contrast to the social realism of Gaskell's novels, revealing a darker and more unsettling style of writing.

© Laura Kranzler 2000 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 Anthologies & Short Stories Classics Gothic Horror Short Stories Scary Magic Fantasy Fiction Magic Users Witchcraft
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It’s immensely frustrating that Gaskell’s wonderful short stories were given to someone who struggles to read complex sentences and who turns clear prose into a muddle. I kept having to skip back and listen to chunks again to try to work out the meaning - and I love Gaskell and listen to audiobooks a lot! There are so many gifted readers out there - how did the producer allow this massacre of sense to allow to happen? Such a wasted opportunity - and a wasted credit. Buy the book and enjoy these vivid stories without the pain of this appalling, infuriating recording.

Brilliant writing, dreadful narration

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