Precious Bane cover art

Precious Bane

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Precious Bane

By: Mary Webb
Narrated by: Justine Eyre
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £17.99

Buy Now for £17.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

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
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

So Late in the Day cover art
The Wheelwright's Daughter cover art
The Good Wife cover art
Good Behaviour cover art
The Enchanted April cover art
The Travel and Adventures of Little Baron Trump cover art
Little Women cover art
A Classic Christmas cover art
At the Back of the North Wind cover art
The House of Arden cover art
Finnegans Wake cover art
The Go-Between cover art
Sunset Song cover art
Lorna Doone cover art
The Red Notebook cover art
Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales cover art

What listeners say about Precious Bane

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    43
  • 4 Stars
    18
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    37
  • 4 Stars
    12
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    47
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

poor accent. pickybut over time it grates

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Book group favourite

My choice for book group. Everyone loved it - for the poetry of the writing, depiction of nature and dramatic story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The narrator tried.

She really did.
Pronunciations were wrong all through the reading ,someone should have put the narrator right on these as the impression was given that she was reading a lot of the words for the first time.
And then there were the words said in dialect which didn't sit well with the narrator's well spoken voice.
Finally,she can't do accents.
The book however is beautiful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A hidden gem

What a diamond of a book — so evocative of a time and place, and the lyrical descriptions of nature are so beautiful and original.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful beautiful tale beautifully read

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An appreciative Shropshire Lass

I read this book many years ago and had difficulty with the old Shropshire within it and found Justine’s performance admirable. A lovely old story of love and hate and everything between- loved it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My favourite book ever

My favourite book ever ruined by a narrator who did not do a very good job !

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, evocative of place and language

Almost an ethanography, Prue Sarne is lyrical, practical and the embodiment of the ecoerience of being other - albeit with a great ending ! Love this book !!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful book!

I absolutely loved the story. The descriptions of nature and countryside were outstandingly beautiful. I must agree with some other reviewers though, that the narrator should have had an accent in keeping with the Shropshire area. She tried her best though, and the story was so

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Refreshing

I loved this book. It took me back in time yet discissed topics such as being different and how the mob can create a scapegoat so easily.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!