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Mary Gladys Meredith Webb
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Precious Bane Paperback – October 27, 2013

by Mary Webb (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 672 ratings
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This is a new release of the original 1924 edition.
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  1. Print length
    318 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Literary Licensing, LLC
  4. Publication date
    October 27, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    5.98 x 0.66 x 9.02 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1494082403
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1494082406
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Literary Licensing, LLC (October 27, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 318 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1494082403
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1494082406
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.98 x 0.66 x 9.02 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 672 ratings

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  1. Mary Gladys Meredith Webb

    Mary Gladys Meredith Webb

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
672 global ratings
Story was great; book was terrible
3 Stars
Story was great; book was terrible
This "edition" the book was apparently printed in somebody's basement. The last line on every page is right/left justified so that the words are all spaced oddly. See photo. The titles are screwy, the page quality is terrible. I was eager to get a copy of the book I enjoyed as a child, but didn't realize it would be almost like a photo quality. Surprised at Amazon to be selling this.
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Top reviews from the United States

Froda
5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and compelling. But be prepared to have to do a bit of work to understand the dialect and quaint turns of phrase.
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2017
Verified Purchase
This was the book that gave my mother the idea for a name for me. Jancis features in the story as a significant character but not the central one. It is narrated by Prue Sarn who was born with a hair lip and believed to be bewitched. She believed that she carried a curse of some kind but didn't let that interfere with her life. She is always hard-working and unfailingly kind. She cares for her elderly mother and assists her brother Gideon with all the farm work. She ploughs, tends the pigs, hens and garden as well as cooking, cleaning etc. Jancis is the daughter of the neighbour "wizard" who cures people with his chants and potions. But Jancis is very beautiful and desired by many and engaged to marry Gideon when Gideon has become rich – his single-minded ambition. As the day of their wedding approaches, Jancis' father who opposes the marriage, is absent and there is an opportunity for the two of them to sleep together. Father Beguildy arrives back early and discovers them. In his fury he sets fire to Gideon's crops – totally destroying his chances of becoming waelthy. This episode turns Gideon against Beguildy and Jancis and wants nothing more to do with them. Tragedy! But Prue has had a story of her own. She has always believed that her "hair-shotten-lip" will mean that no man will ever want her and is resigned to live a single life. However, she meets Kester the Weaver and knows that he is the "maister" for her. Set in the years following the Battle of Waterloo, it is written in the style of 19th Century shropshire country folk and uses many words and expressions I had to guess at the meaning. It is full of the superstitions and folk-lore that might have been around at a much earlier time. Mary Webb was born 1881 – 1927 and Precious Bane was published in 1924. I had read several of Mary Webb's novels before and always found them engaging and compelling. Similar in atmosphere to Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbevilles" it captures a great feeling of the remoteness of the countryside and the isolation that the characters live with. Webb is a real story teller. An easy read (as long as you can make your way through the dialect).
12 people found this helpful
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Anonymous
4.0 out of 5 stars A BOOK FOR SPECIAL READERS
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2016
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I have bought this book many times for bright older readers - since the day I first read it. I haven't seen it in some years so I cannot respond to question about narrator. I'm an older grandmother who read virtually everything all the time from earliest years. Precious Bane, recommended by a librarian, was the first romantic novel I read that had young people (as opposed to, say, Jane Eyre as an adult, where the romance is so palpable. I recommend this beautifully written book (not great; that must be reserved for great), as a charming book for 13 years up with a liking for a vocabulary that includes some now obsolete words. Possibly, "bane" is an example. So: it is not for every young person, but those to whom I discerningly gave this book dearly loved it. They were not part of the generation too soon sexually aware. Note how many editions have been printed and you can surmise that it is just right for certain young girls on the cusp. I seem to recall Lorna Doone was such a book. And, to cite one not great, that I re-read also many times - a book by Eleanor Lambert. Do look it up. I think it was called, Thee Jonathan. It could be of interest for readerss to know I was trained first with a specialty in Children's Literature. The categories that go from good to great do not satisfy this writer. Many books are not great, that are yet, beautifully written. I try not to buy or give books that are merely 'good'. A book is a journey you remember lifelong. Choose wisely. Yes, I do recommend Precious Bane. But, I've written that already, haven't I?
18 people found this helpful
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One Who Enjoys a Good Read
5.0 out of 5 stars A Book to Savor
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2007
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This is an amazing book which should be read by all those who enjoy British literature. It is a touching, romantic story. The writing is sensual in that there are sounds, smells, sights, tastes and textures to be experienced in its textual descriptions. The natural setting almost becomes a "character" in and of itself because you could not take the story out of the beautiful, natural, country setting Webb creates.

Look at other reviews to understand the plot. However, it truly doesn't make sense to try to recount it. Be patient when waiting for the "hook", when you won't be able to put the book down, it will come. Also, allow yourself a bit of time to learn to read and hear in your mind the syntax and sound of the words. Mary Webb takes you to a different place and time and you come to understand what it would be like for a young woman with intelligence, family devotion, character and longings who happened to be born with an external defect.

May this book become one of your favorites as it has become one of mine. (If anyone knows how I might obtain a video/DVD of the Masterpiece Theatre version with Janet McTeer and Clive Owen, please let me know.)
24 people found this helpful
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S. Kay Murphy
5.0 out of 5 stars A treasure of pure gold for bibliophiles
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2015
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This book is simply a treasure. In some ways, it is dark (as there are foul deeds afoot). But in other ways, the beauty of Nature, of Good (in its classic sense), of a pure heart illumine this novel with an ethereal glow. The Shropshire dialect in which it is written presents a bit of a challenge, but once the reader has grown accustomed, the story unwinds without hesitation and is really quite riveting.

I discovered Precious Bane while reading Harry Cauley's novel, The Botticelli Angel, which I also loved. In that book, the characters are reading as they travel, and frequent mentions are made of the characters and situations in Precious Bane. I enjoyed both novels and loved how one introduced the other (though they are nothing alike).
12 people found this helpful
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Susan Hunter
3.0 out of 5 stars Story was great; book was terrible
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2020
Verified Purchase
This "edition" the book was apparently printed in somebody's basement. The last line on every page is right/left justified so that the words are all spaced oddly. See photo. The titles are screwy, the page quality is terrible. I was eager to get a copy of the book I enjoyed as a child, but didn't realize it would be almost like a photo quality. Surprised at Amazon to be selling this.
Customer image
Susan Hunter
3.0 out of 5 stars Story was great; book was terrible
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2020
This "edition" the book was apparently printed in somebody's basement. The last line on every page is right/left justified so that the words are all spaced oddly. See photo. The titles are screwy, the page quality is terrible. I was eager to get a copy of the book I enjoyed as a child, but didn't realize it would be almost like a photo quality. Surprised at Amazon to be selling this.
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Mr. D. James
5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Tale, superbly told
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2015
Verified Purchase
Webb, Mary. Precious Bane
Prudence Sarn, who tells the story, opens with a paean to the landscape around her home at Sarn. She contrasts it with Plash, the neighbouring estate, the home of the Beguildys which is poor and neglected, the land being unproductive and its inhabitants idle. However, Plash has two advantages, notably Mister Beguildy, a sadistic wizard who is lettered and Jancis his beautiful daughter. Pru is cursed with a hare lip, which puts her out of the marriage market, but she manages to earn enough for lessons from Beguildy, and in due course many great ladies ‘have come to me, time and again, to write their love-letters for them, and a bitter old task it is, to write other women’s love-letters out of your own burning heart.’
Early on, Gideon, Sue’s elder brother and a fanatical son of the soil, engages her in a solemn oath to join him in saving up enough to buy a noble property in Lullingford, the nearest town. At the same time he becomes bewitched by Jancis, the beautiful daughter of the irascible Beguildy who detests him. Gideon’s running battles with his ultra-strict father end when the latter perishes after a bout of apoplexy while punishing his son.
Set back in the time of the Napoleonic Wars, this rural scene is exquisitely evoked by Prue,in simple dialect that reflects her honest puzzlement about human beings and their place in the naural world. The ‘bane’ of the title is reflected not only in Sue’s hare-lip but in the poison that does for her mother and the demonic activities that destroy not only the prospering farm of the Sarns but the love of Gideon and Jancis. The shadow of tragedy hangs over all from the start. This rural tragedy has all the power of Hardy or the George Eliot of The Mill on the Floss, except that it has a seemingly tacked on happy ending. Prue’s saviour Kester the Weaver, who cares naught for ancient superstition and detests bloodsports, arrives on horseback to take her away from Sarn and its backbiting neighbours.
For some readers this escape will appear to be a mis-use of the deus ex machina; for others it will be the perfect ending, for Sue deserves her reward and we rejoice in her happiness. It is no denigration to place this novel in the Romance category; it is a good tale, superbly told.
Customer image
Mr. D. James
5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Tale, superbly told
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2015
Webb, Mary. Precious Bane
Prudence Sarn, who tells the story, opens with a paean to the landscape around her home at Sarn. She contrasts it with Plash, the neighbouring estate, the home of the Beguildys which is poor and neglected, the land being unproductive and its inhabitants idle. However, Plash has two advantages, notably Mister Beguildy, a sadistic wizard who is lettered and Jancis his beautiful daughter. Pru is cursed with a hare lip, which puts her out of the marriage market, but she manages to earn enough for lessons from Beguildy, and in due course many great ladies ‘have come to me, time and again, to write their love-letters for them, and a bitter old task it is, to write other women’s love-letters out of your own burning heart.’
Early on, Gideon, Sue’s elder brother and a fanatical son of the soil, engages her in a solemn oath to join him in saving up enough to buy a noble property in Lullingford, the nearest town. At the same time he becomes bewitched by Jancis, the beautiful daughter of the irascible Beguildy who detests him. Gideon’s running battles with his ultra-strict father end when the latter perishes after a bout of apoplexy while punishing his son.
Set back in the time of the Napoleonic Wars, this rural scene is exquisitely evoked by Prue,in simple dialect that reflects her honest puzzlement about human beings and their place in the naural world. The ‘bane’ of the title is reflected not only in Sue’s hare-lip but in the poison that does for her mother and the demonic activities that destroy not only the prospering farm of the Sarns but the love of Gideon and Jancis. The shadow of tragedy hangs over all from the start. This rural tragedy has all the power of Hardy or the George Eliot of The Mill on the Floss, except that it has a seemingly tacked on happy ending. Prue’s saviour Kester the Weaver, who cares naught for ancient superstition and detests bloodsports, arrives on horseback to take her away from Sarn and its backbiting neighbours.
For some readers this escape will appear to be a mis-use of the deus ex machina; for others it will be the perfect ending, for Sue deserves her reward and we rejoice in her happiness. It is no denigration to place this novel in the Romance category; it is a good tale, superbly told.
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5 people found this helpful
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Floury Julie
5.0 out of 5 stars éblouissant roman
Reviewed in France on December 12, 2013
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ce roman inclassable mérite d'être connu pour ses personnages émouvants, ses descriptions du folklore du Shropshire et sa construction du récit à la fois fluide et ponctuée de poésie.
2 people found this helpful
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Dave and Joe
5.0 out of 5 stars Precious Indeed
Reviewed in Canada on October 21, 2007
Verified Purchase
I fell immediately in love with Prue, the narrator of this tale, and because of that I was drawn into and through the book. It is a difficult read because of the language and you should know going in that it is written in a dialect form of English ... with 'enow' being 'enough' and you have to make your way through the archaic words to get the story, but what a story it is! Warning, the book comes with an introduction by the then Prime Minister of England, Baldwin, in this introduction he gives away a major plot point and by doing so can ruin the tension of the book. What he says is cool, but read it AFTER reading the text.
One person found this helpful
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Book fiend
4.0 out of 5 stars A classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 26, 2019
Verified Purchase
Set in very rural Shropshire in the 1800s it takes a bit of getting used to the "country" language - I almost felt I needed a glossary to explain some of the words in detail although the general meaning is clear enough. Life was tough for these country people and a lost harvest is a monumental tragedy. The heroine of the story, Prue Sarn, has a hare lip and is deeply conscious of the stigma attached to this and attempts to change her life by getting a neighbour - a wicked old man who deals in spells - to teach her to read. Prue has a brother with grand ambitions that drives him to work with a fury, and insisting that Prue shares in this obsession so that they may better themselves. The relationships with the various characters and their loves, dramas and tragedies are woven into a passionate story that still holds up as well as when it was written.
One person found this helpful
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Gaelle Kermen
1.0 out of 5 stars Illisible sans table des matières, mauvaise conversion numérique
Reviewed in France on October 17, 2019
Verified Purchase
Je n’ai pas pu lire ce livre, converti par Calibre, sans table des matières. Un livre numérique doit avoir une table des matières.
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