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 amongst 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 ...
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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 amongst 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's Cold Comfort Farm, Precious Bane is a novel that haunts us with its beauty and its timeless truths about our deepest hopes.
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Add this copy of Precious Bane to cart. $53.29, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2021 by Blackstone Public Domain.
Add this copy of Precious Bane to cart. $85.20, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2021 by Blackstone Public Domain.
The sad story is that if I say too much good about this book, other readers might have high expectations and be disappointed.
The truth is that I was enchanted by Mary Webb's poetic writing and her descriptions of nature, as well as her insights into human nature! I also liked very much the strange, eerie "ambiance" of the whole story, and it's setting in what seems to be a past time long gone.
What more can I say? I fell in love with this book!
AOfromPA
Oct 25, 2009
Lyrical beauty
What I love are the descriptions of the beauty of Prue's surroundings: the fields, the hum of insects, rippling water ('troubling of the mere'), or the smell of apples in her attic. I believe that the 'severely dated' language mentioned by other reviewers evokes a place and time long gone but worth remembering. This and the gentle humor are what make Precious Bane one of the most poignant variations of the Cinderella story that I've ever read.
