Virago Modern Classics discussion

Who wants to read Precious Bane by Mary Webb? This is our buddy-read in February 2025.

If you have read it already, or you are reading it at another (later) time - write here what you think about the book too.

[Please keep in mind to hide spoilers in spoiler brackets.]

I am going to read the novel.

I will try to get to it this month.

I love this book. There was an audio done by the Books on Tape company years ago that was fabulous with the dialect. The current version on Audible has in my opinion too educated an accent. The author does an amazing job of putting you into a world, evoking the emotions and observations of a past time. I may not get to reading it again, I'll have to see.

I did reread it and was impressed again. I don't usually like books with a lot of nature component, but this is so beautifully done. Prue Sarn is an authentic character. She has a limited life, so she makes her observations from what she knows - the Bible and the natural world. She finds such joy and connection in the changing of the seasons and the local celebrations, in spite of her terribly hard life and the "curse" of her harelip. The book contains epic tragedy but also unquenchable optimism.

There are some tricky expressions, like "clemmed" for hungry/starving, "a tuthree" for "two or three /a few " and pronunciations like "met" for "might" but I don't think they detract from the story.

A time capsule and a vault capturing an era, its people, culture, languages, and landscapes.

Sometimes I had difficulties with reading it (because of the dialect and unfamiliar terms) but definitely worth reading.