The Town House cover art

The Town House

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Town House

By: Norah Lofts
Narrated by: Juliet Prague, Martyn Read
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £19.99

Buy Now for £19.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

"It was in the first week of October in the year 1391 that I first came face to face with the man who owned me…the man whose lightest word was to us, his villeins, weightier than the King’s law or the edicts of our Holy Father.…"

So began the story of Martin Reed - a serf whose resentment of the automatic rule of his feudal lord finally flared into open defiance. Encouraged by the woman he loved, Martin Reed began a new life - a life which was to culminate in the building of the House, and the founding of the dynasty who were to live there.

©1959 Norah Lofts (P)2014 Soundings Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Romance Women's Fiction

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Knight's Acre cover art
Bless This House cover art
Pargeters cover art
Gad's Hall cover art
Eleanor the Queen cover art
Madselin cover art
A Wayside Tavern cover art
To See a Fine Lady cover art
Nethergate cover art
Scent of Cloves cover art
Michael and All Angels cover art
The Lute Player cover art
Dynasty 1: The Founding cover art
The Rich Earth cover art
Grim cover art
The Midwife cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
I love Norah Lofts work and this did not disappoint me as a story. but there are 2 narrators, The male was marvellous. with an engaging and authentic East Anglian accent which drew me in from the start. The female however, put me off completely as she sounded like she was from the West Country and I kept picturing the Cadbury's Caramel bunny. Totally inappropriate for the location and age of the character. Such a shame.

Great story let down by part narration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Truly fabulous story very well read, enjoyed hearing it. Wish that Norah Lofts had written more books and more are available

Fabulous

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
First in the House Trilogy. Have listened to them all. All wonderful and beautifully read.

Great from beginning to end

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've read this so many times and the audible version is excellent with two very talented narrators.
Norah Lofts was an amazing writer of historical fiction. Her characters are so multi-faceted and their stories are utterly believable. I love the way they are seen from others' perspectives through this book. And she never feels the need to bring everything to a happy conclusion so you can't predict outcomes.
This trilogy is just brilliant, as are all Norah Lofts' books.

An old favourite

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I found this book ages ago, when I was 20, in a box in the attick. Noone knew where it came from. It was in english and very difficult english at that. I started reading it (I'm danish) and when I got to the end I started again. Over more than three decades I read this book about once a year, I got caught in it every time. Eventually I bought the two following books on a trip to London. Loved them too, but Martin Reed's tale is the most exciting.
I love Martin, the founder of Old Vine. He went through asome very rough years and events before he built the house. There is so much history in these books and so many different caracters.
The Town House is the one book I would bring to a dessert island. If I could bring more than one, I would also bring The House at Old Vine, The House at Sunset - and the Harry Potter books.

Become a part of the House

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

If you could sum up The Town House in three words, what would they be?

As above!

What other book might you compare The Town House to, and why?

The next book in the trilogy is good, too, the third quite disappointing. Norah Lofts really knows her history and her characters are totally convincing.

What about Juliet Prague and Martyn Read ’s performance did you like?

Both of them managed local dialect well, but not overdone.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

I wouldn't want a film.....

Any additional comments?

I don't like this new way of reviewing books. You can't get a proper flow of your opinions. I have read and enjoyed almost all Norah Lofts' books. She really seems to be able to write convincingly about historical daily life and to make her characters real enough for you to care what happens to them and this is basically the test of a novel.

Well-researched historical novel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
its a classic I had be gripped due to the story and the human aspect and great characters but the level of historical context was fabulous and obviously well researched. I loved the detail and the way the story weaves through the years. I loved the characters and gave me a great insight into the times. I can't wait to get into the next one.

great for the historian

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.