The Wheelwright's Daughter
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The Wheelwright's Daughter
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Narrated by:
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Katherine Press
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By:
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Eleanor Porter
About this listen
Can she save herself from a witch's fate?
Martha is a feisty and articulate young woman, the daughter of a wheelwright, living in a Herefordshire village in Elizabethan England. With no mother Martha's life is spent running her father's meagre household and helping out at the local school whilst longing to escape the confines and small-mindedness of a community driven by religious bigotry and poverty.
As she is able to read and is well-versed in herbal remedies she is suspected of being a witch. When a landslip occurs - opening up a huge chasm in the centre of the village - she is blamed for it and pursued remorselessly by the villagers.
**But can her own wits and the love of local stablehand Jacob save her from a witch's persecution and death...
A brilliant and accomplished novel that perfectly captures the febrile atmosphere of Elizabethan village life in an age when suspicion and superstition were rife. Perfect for fans of Tracy Chevalier.
©2020 Eleanor Porter (P)2020 Boldwood BooksListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"It's a gripping story and such accomplished writing. I really enjoyed every moment of working on it." (Yvonne Holland, editor of Philippa Gregory and Tracy Chevalier)
So annoyed by the ending
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In times of tumult peoples' minds grasp for meaning. All the more so in that time when the transition to scientific rationality was at its beginning. Superstition looks for outsiders to blame and Martha is an outsider in so many ways. Gripping, moving and beautiful.
A powerful evocation of life as an outsider
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But, this is a brilliant weaving of history associated with many true facts from part of the country where I live. The author has woven together those facts with all the superstitions and class barriers that abounded at that time, and some touching romance.
At the end of the book we are left with either having to assume the final fate of our heroine or, I understand, there is a second book which perhaps holds the answer.
I will have to buy it!! Even if it doesn’t provide the answer, if it’s written as brilliantly as this one then it will be worth it.
The narrator is brilliant. She captures the accents with aplomb and usually I find with all narrators the reading of the opposite gender to themselves is sometimes difficult to accept but she has it to a tee.
Historical novel at its best
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Returning to give the story a second chance, I upped the speed to try to get through to the crux of the novel. The reader’s voice is repetitive and lacks intonation so that almost every sentence rises and falls to such a monotone I found myself having to rewind and listen again to many passages.
I won’t give the end away, but like another reviewer I found it is unsatisfactory and somewhat sudden.
Yes, it paints a picture of the rank and dismal life of the time, and the surly women of the tale along with the evil Father Paul are hateful; but it’s not enough to make me recommend this book.
Really hard work!
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