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A review by kiwi_fruit
Precious Bane by Mary Webb
2.0
This is the story of Prue Sarn, an intelligent and good-hearted young woman, born with a facial disfiguration (cleft lip); because of her condition she is both pitied and feared by her village neighbors (who suspect her of being a witch). She lives on a farm with her frail mother and Gideon, her handsome, strong-willed but hardworking brother. Gideon, who has inherited the farm after the death of their father, is determined to work hard for a better future for himself and his family. He is betrothed to a beautiful young girl, who he intend to marry despite his father-in-law-to-be objections.
This is a story where ambition results in tragedy; romance is mixed with grief, superstition and ghosts. Will Prue find her happiness with her prince charming of a traveling weaver?
I admit that the mix of old English language and Shropshire dialect was a struggle for me, as it forced me to slow down my reading pace, having to read and re-read the sentences to make sense of them.
The story started strong, waned by the middle but the ending was more exciting.
What I liked most were the descriptions of the countryside and nature in the changing seasons, but as I’ve said before I’m not much of a romance girl. If you like drama, romantic tales of doomed lovers, a likeable heroine and lyrical writing, à la Austen or Bronte, you’ll probably like this one more than I did.
2.5 stars
This is a story where ambition results in tragedy; romance is mixed with grief, superstition and ghosts. Will Prue find her happiness with her prince charming of a traveling weaver?
I admit that the mix of old English language and Shropshire dialect was a struggle for me, as it forced me to slow down my reading pace, having to read and re-read the sentences to make sense of them.
The story started strong, waned by the middle but the ending was more exciting
Spoiler
although it leaned towards the melodramatic culminating in a too predictable fairy tale finaleWhat I liked most were the descriptions of the countryside and nature in the changing seasons, but as I’ve said before I’m not much of a romance girl. If you like drama, romantic tales of doomed lovers, a likeable heroine and lyrical writing, à la Austen or Bronte, you’ll probably like this one more than I did.
2.5 stars