Precious Bane - Mary Webb

.../> I first stumbled across Precious Bane as a film starring a young and spunky Janet McTeer as the ‘heroine’ Prue Sarn. The film was quite enjoyable to watch but lacked the richness of language that is found in the book – an inevitability sometimes.


The Plot~


Prue Sarn is the narrator of the story. She was born with a hare-lip and in those days (late 1800’s) this was quite a big deal. However, this ‘bane’ ...
...stories, Prue had qualities of character that put her impediment in the shade.


She lived with her parents and brother in a small Shropshire community, full of superstition and rumour. All sorts of unfortunate things happened to the family and their friends and neighbours, which I shall not reveal in this review as it would spoil the story. Suffice to say that Prue survives through it all to the happy ending, which comes just ... more

This book should be read by those who want to know how people used to live in the past, especially in rural places, and enjoy the challenge of reading dialogue in the local dialect. It is a love story full of romance, revenge, tragedy and despair.

I first stumbled across Precious Bane as a film starring a young and spunky Janet McTeer as the ‘heroine’ Prue Sarn. The film was quite enjoyable to watch but lacked the richness of language that is found in the book – an inevitability sometimes.

The Plot~

Prue Sarn is the narrator of the story. She was born with a hare-lip and in those days (late 1800’s) this was quite a big deal. However, this ‘bane’ turned out to be ‘precious’ because as in all good stories, Prue had qualities of character that put her impediment in the shade.

She lived with her parents and brother in a small Shropshire community, full of superstition and rumour. All sorts of unfortunate things happened to the family and their friends and neighbours, which I shall not reveal in this review as it would spoil the story. Suffice to say that Prue survives through it all to the happy ending, which comes just in time!

The Author~

The author, Mary Webb, lived from 1881 to 1927. Most of this time was spent in Shropshire, which she was deeply attached to. This attachment shines through her novels and she is gifted in her use of language to describe the landscape, people and customs that she was very familiar with. She also uses a Shropshire dialect for her characters that enhances the dialogue - once you’ve got used to it. Some of the words are wonderful (eg Mommet, clemming, lief).

The Reader~

It took me some time to get round to reading this book. I got my copy from a secondhand bookshop and the cover is extremely dull. I also felt that having already ‘seen the film’, it might be a bit boring. I persevered because a friend had recommended it and I’d already read one of Mary Webb’s books. It wouldn’t suit everyone, but if you appreciate really good writing and are generally fond of the classics, it’s well worth it. I certainly couldn’t put it down once I’d started.
 

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