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Precious Bane

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Precious Bane

By: Mary Webb
Narrated by: Justine Eyre
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About this listen

A haunting tale of passion set in Shropshire in the 1800s.

Born at the time of Waterloo in the wild countryside of Shropshire, England, Prudence Sarn is a passionate girl, cursed with a harelip - her “precious bane”. She is cursed for it, too, by the superstitious people among whom she lives. Prue loves two things: the remote countryside of her birthplace and, hopelessly, Kester Woodseaves, the weaver. The tale of how Kester gradually discerns Prue’s true beauty is set against the tragic drama of Prue’s brother, Gideon, a man who is out of harmony with the natural world and whose recklessness may ensnare them all in tragedy.

Winner of the 1926 Prix Femina Vie Heureuse Prize, which was similarly awarded to such books as Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India, and Stella Gibbons’ Cold Comfort Farm, Precious Bane is a novel that haunts us with its beauty and its timeless truths about our deepest hopes.

Public Domain (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing Classics England Heartfelt

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All stars
Most relevant
if you haven't read this story then don't miss out. Moved me to tears. And poetic rhythm to some passages particularly about noticing and being part of the world of wild things

Beautiful beautiful tale beautifully read

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what a marvellous narrator!! Praise be go her. I hope she could read all books by George Elliott and Mary Webb.

precious bane

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I loved this book from being a teenager and I'm afraid the readers accent spoiled it weird pronouncing of. " mere" and other word s which I. Shropshire would be pronounced with northern vowels were not done so. I know it's picky but it xane to really affect my listening
I'm afraid that many of the tragic events were td in a cheery way. I wouldn't recommend it

poor accent. pickybut over time it grates

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I couldn’t stop listening to this tale — funny, gorgeous and tragic by turns — set in a Shropshire community in the early 1800s and told by the clear-eyed and true Prue Sarn. So glad this book has been rediscovered as the feminist classic it is.

Gripping and beautiful

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Tough themes and the truth about rural living in these times. Covers disability in a modern and empathetic way. Both sad and happy. Good prep for a WEA course on ‘cold comfort farm’

Narrator brilliant with difficult language and voices

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