Precious Bane (Virago Modern Classics)

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It's almost a spiritual journey - after reading you find yourself savoring different passages to find all the truth you know is within them. Prue suffers from a disfigurement, she has a cleft or hare-lip, and she is reminded time and again by almost everyone around her that she will never marry, that she is undesirable, that she is unfortunate and ugly. The description of the English countryside is beautiful and the use of dialect helps this era come alive. It could have been set in medieval times, for the superstition, religious brutality and the treatment of women, children, and animals are awful. It is narrated by the central character, Prue Sarn, whose life is blighted by having a cleft lip and cleft palate.

Precious Bane by Mary Webb - AbeBooks Precious Bane by Mary Webb - AbeBooks

The Webbs moved to London in 1921 both for Henry’s work and to enable Mary to engage with the London literati and become better known. The Diocese of Gloucester is looking for two creative, flexible and holistic thinkers who care passionately about nurturing leaders who will share the good news of Jesus Christ and make disciples in all our varied contexts. The much-revised plans were finally approved in August 2021 with the proviso that the house can be demolished but the original cottage must be identified and reconstructed on the site.

There are misfortunes that make you spring up and rush to save yourself, but, there are others that are too bad for this, for they leave nought to do.

Precious Bane by Mary Webb | Goodreads

She developed an extraordinary perception for minute detail in nature and this is reflected in the richness of her poetry and prose. Precious Bane" is a historical romance by Mary Webb set in rural Shropshire during the Napoleonic Wars. It refers to the love of money, which, as Prue records, blights love and destroys life, but the title also refers to Prue's deformity, which she comes to recognize as the source of her spiritual strength. The natural world of Shropshire offers her some consolation to the back-breaking work on the farm, and the fact that she can read and work with numbers is a source of pride and solace. A monumental bust of Mary Webb, commissioned by the Mary Webb Society, was unveiled in the grounds of Shrewsbury Library on 9 July 2016.Among her most famous works are: The Golden Arrow (1916), Gone to Earth (1917), and Seven for a Secret (1922). I have copied my video of this on to DVD so that I can enjoy it whenever I like and it makes a very successful (and rare) wedding present as well! It was only after her death that the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, earned her posthumous success through his approbation, referring to her as a neglected genius at a Literary Fund dinner in 1928.

Biography - Mary Webb Society Biography - Mary Webb Society

Also the evident contrast between brother and sister, between evil and goodness: Prue's silent acceptance and her brother's endless thirst to yield power; her ability to be at ease with herself in spite of her faults versus Gideon's incapacity to accept his position in the world; her humble ways, his capricious goals. An itinerant weaver Kester Woodseaves, makes his living by weaving for the local people in their homes.The prose immerses one in the countryside and gives one a feel for the archaic dialect unique to this area. This novel is full of musical prose, but I found the romantic parts particularly tender and beautiful. Era piacevole stare nella cucina calda e piena di luce, in cui si diffondeva il buon odore del pane, e guardare fuori i campi e i boschi grigi, freddi e solitari, e poi chiudere le imposte, accendere la candela, apparecchiare e mettere a scaldare la focaccia di patate sulla brace, e sapere anche che di lì a poco tutti quelli che amavo sarebbero stati al riparo per una notte intera. It has to be read to be imagined, the language is a beauteous thing even without the timeless story. She’s a translator of ancient words and customs for readers living in “new-fangled days”, unfamiliar with love-spinning, sin-eating ( Real Life, 29 January 2010), or the importance of informing bees of a change of master.