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Mrs England
- Narrated by: Imogen Wilde
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
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Mrs England
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Summary
Winner of the Women's Prize Futures Award
A Waterstones Best Book of the Year
Longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize
Longlisted for the Portico Prize
From the best-selling author of The Familiars and The Foundling comes Stacey Halls' most compelling and ambitious novel to date.
'Something's not right here.'
I was aware of Mr Booth's eyes on me, and he seemed to hold his breath. 'What do you mean?'
'In the house. With the family.'
West Yorkshire, 1904. When newly graduated nurse Ruby May takes a position looking after the children of Charles and Lilian England, a wealthy couple from a powerful dynasty of mill owners, she hopes it will be the fresh start she needs. But as she adapts to life at the isolated Hardcastle House, it becomes clear there's something not quite right about the beautiful, mysterious Mrs England.
Distant and withdrawn, Lilian shows little interest in her children or charming husband, and is far from the 'angel of the house' Ruby was expecting. As the warm, vivacious Charles welcomes Ruby into the family, a series of strange events forces her to question everything she thought she knew. Ostracised by the servants and feeling increasingly uneasy, Ruby must face her demons in order to prevent history from repeating itself. After all, there's no such thing as the perfect family—and she should know.
Simmering with slow-burning menace, Mrs England is a portrait of an Edwardian marriage, weaving an enthralling story of men and women, power and control, courage, truth and the very darkest deception. Set against the atmospheric West Yorkshire landscape, Stacey Halls' third novel proves her one of the most exciting and compelling new storytellers of our times.
*Sunday Times bestseller June 2021 and January 2022*
*Winner of Women's Prize for Fiction x Good Housekeeping Futures award—Good Housekeeping 14 Oct 2022*
Critic reviews
"The new Hilary Mantel." (Cosmopolitan)
"Outstanding. Haunting, compelling, atmospheric." (Emma Stonex, best-selling author of The Lamplighters)
"Highly atmospheric and tense." (Richard Osman, The Observer)
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What listeners say about Mrs England
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- claire newbolt
- 01-08-21
An easy listen
Enjoyable but not mind blowing detail and excellent research we’re clear but she set the bar high with the familiars and I still think that’s my favourite Stacey halls book. Narration was a little stiff and lifeless which perhaps didn’t help.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 21-07-21
Another great one from Stacey Halls
I loved this story. BUT it took a little while to warm to it purely because of the narration. The 'voice' given to the main character is so dull and inexpressive, quite monotone. But the narrator gives all the other characters much more colourful voices so I could only deduce that it was intentional. And I did come to terms with it and was able to thoroughly enjoy the story.
Nurse May takes a job as nursemaid to a family in Yorkshire with 4 children. The story has many areas of interest - historical, class differences, gender inequality, family difficulties and intrigue. The intrigue grows and the story becomes a mission to solve the mystery. When I wasn't listening to this audiobook I was looking forward to mt next chance to do so. And I was sad when it was over!
I've listened to all 3 of Ms Halls' stories now and I put Mrs England up there with The Foundling. The Familiars is not as good in my opinion.
I am already looking forward to her next book!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rachel Redford
- 27-06-21
an easy unchallenging read
I haven't read Stacey Halls' previous best sellers so I thought I'd see why she is so popular.
She is a good story teller who keeps her readers turning the pages - in the story of Nurse May in the household of Mr and Mrs England in Yorkshire there's mystery; hidden secrets in the past drip fed throughout; puzzling relationships; half hidden simmering violence; love; Edwardian background; different social classes; inequality; role and position of women; children, drama, dialogue and a positive happy ending... What more could you want?
I wanted more. I engaged with the story but felt the final dramatic events were out of kilter with the rest of the story, and the final ending was like many a Victorian novel. I was not challenged at any point and I found the language wholly competent but unexciting and every sentence syntactically similar. This was made even more obvious by the narrator's Birmingham accent which gave every sentence the same intonation which became tedious - but this apart (not her fault), Imogen Wilde is a good narrator in sympathy with the characters.
Those who enjoyed Stacey Halls' best sellers will no doubt love it. It's just not enough for me.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Karen J
- 18-09-21
Fantastic story
I really enjoyed listening to this book. it was well read and captivating. I was sad when it ended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- LPC
- 11-07-21
Superb novel
I didn’t want this book to end. It’s one of the most engrossing books I’ve listened to in a while.
Highly recommend it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kathleen firth
- 30-06-21
Wonderful
I loved everything about this book. Stacey has a real gift at bringing characters to life. And the narrator was perfect for this story.
Very gripping from the start, I didn't want to stop! Already eagerly waiting for her next book.
Highly recommend
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Linnie10
- 25-06-21
Wonderful21
Absolutely wonderful. Very well written novel. Did not want the story to end. The story was gripping and very entertaining. Loved this and would highly recommend. The narrator was excellent also.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle reader
- 12-12-21
Enthralled
I loved this audio book . It was unusual and different. I haven’t listened to this author before but I will look for other books from her. The narrator was clear and easy to listen to. Well worth it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Christine Sutherland
- 08-01-22
Gripping
One of the best reads I’ve had for a long time, totally different for me, but I loved every minute of it. The story holds you and the narration is brilliant. Shame that Stacy Halls only wrote three books, I am now on the third and they are all equally as brilliant.
MORE PLEASE STACY ……. And fast !!!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- kassandra
- 31-07-22
Really enjoyed this
Didn’t know what to expect of this m, it was a really easy read to jump in and out of. So easy that I got through it in two days.
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