Precious Bane (Virago Modern Classics)

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In 1921, they bought a second property in London, in the hope that by being in the city, she could achieve greater literary recognition. This, however, did not happen, although she won the Prix Femina Vie Heureuse for Precious Bane in 1926. By 1927, she was suffering increasingly bad health, her marriage was failing, and she returned to Spring Cottage alone. She died at St Leonards-on-Sea, aged 46. She was buried in Shrewsbury, at the General Cemetery in Longden Road. [11] Legacy [ edit ] The Old Shropshire dialect was very difficult for me, I must admit. I stumbled through for a while, but eventually the bumpy ride smoothed out as I adjusted to it, and in the end I found the dialect gave a richness and authenticity to the text.

Precious Bane - Wikipedia

I give easement and rest now to thee, dear man, that ye walk not over the fields nor down the by-ways. And for thy peace I pawn my own soul.' Jancis Beguildy - The wizard's daughter and Gideon Sarn's intended wife, plump, blonde with a lush, pleasing mouth always forming a lovely "oh." Mary's first published work had been a poem which appeared in the Shrewsbury Chronicle of October 18, 1907, about the Shrewsbury train disaster three days earlier. Her brother Kenneth Meredith had taken it in to the paper without her knowledge and it was published anonymously. This poem about the Shrewsbury railway disaster was published anonymously in the Shrewsbury Chronicle in 1907 – the future novelist's first published work.The young Mary loved to explore the local countryside and was fascinated by the wonders of the natural world. She developed an extraordinary perception for minute detail in nature and this is reflected in the richness of her poetry and prose. In the end, Webb’s is a story about punishment for all-consuming greed. Jancis Beguildy’s father, the local wizard who provides charms and snake-oil cures and who may be in league with the devil, is known to have held a long grudge against Old Sarn, and he has even less use for the man’s son, Gideon. Idle and amoral, Beguildy is motivated by lust for easy money. He believes he can get a better price for his beautiful daughter, Jancis, than Gideon is likely to give, and he is fully prepared to auction her off to the highest bidder. When Gideon sleeps with the girl to stake his claim to her, however, the young man cements his fate. Beguildy’s curses and revenge will deprive him of all he’s worked for.

Precious Bane | Victorian England, Rural Life, Nature

Precious Bane tells the touching story of the young Prue Sarn, coming of age in the early 1800’s, part of a hard-working farm family in the West Midlands of England. She’s considered afflicted, due to being born with a cleft lip, and told she’ll never have a lover or children.Hammill, Faye Cold Comfort Farm, D. H. Lawrence, and English Literary Culture Between the Wars, Modern Fiction Studies 47.4 (2001) 831-854 As for Henry, he and his second wife Kathleen had two children and lived in London, Henry renting out Spring Cottage. He died in spectacular style, falling – or, some think, jumping – from Scafell, England’s highest peak, in 1939. 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." Published in 1924, Precious Bane is a novel by Mary Webb (1881 - 1927) which touches on ambition, prejudice and hatred but also on the power of love. Prue Sarn is a farm girl in rural Shropshire during the period of the Napoleonic Wars and is viewed with suspicion by the local community because of having been born with a harelip. Her ambitious and domineering brother betrays her and her superstitious neighbours accuse her of witchcraft. An itinerant weaver Kester Woodseaves, makes his living by weaving for the local people in their homes. Like Prue, he loves the natural world and comes to recognises Prue's inner strength and beauty. ( Noel Badrian)

Precious Bane by Mary Webb | Waterstones

There's a love story here, and tragedy, and family. When she was a young girl the narrator expressed wonderment that her mother kept on telling her father, in moments of anguish--"Could I help it if the hare crossed my path? Could I help it?" I, too, found this puzzling not knowing what it meant until later it dawned on me: it has something to do with superstition, of which there were plenty during the old times, and what the girl-narrator is (though she be unconscious of it). Superstitions which, themselves, bring informative delight.I was just bouncing through Janet McTeer's bio after seeing Songcatcher. I remember the first time I ever saw her was as Prue in Precious Bane. I can barely remember the story, but her haunted eyes and cleft lip were unforgettable. The only cause for all the misfortune that they could see was the curse of God … They’d reasoned it out slow, as we do in the country, but once they came to the end of the reasoning they were fixed, and it would take a deal to turn them.” Darkly delightful.. full of wit, invention and charm. Outdoor theatre doesn’t come better than this. The Guardian