-
Cranford
- Narrated by: Prunella Scales
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $15.98
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
My Lady Ludlow
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Susannah York
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lady Ludlow's appalling snobbery, prejudice and bred-in-the-bone conviction as to the superiority of the English aristocracy and their feudal way of life are deliciously tested, and found wanting, in this gently radical tale of the collapse of a social system. Elizabeth Gaskell's My Lady Ludlow is a brilliant picture of the shift in power in a rural northern village, from the velvety feudal Ludlows to the glitter of the new money rattling through the system courtesy of the brazen baker from Birmingham.
-
-
A treat
- By Tad Davis on 03-04-20
-
Agnes Grey
- By: Anne Brontë
- Narrated by: Emilia Fox
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having lost the family savings on risky investments, Richard Grey removes himself from family life and suffers a bout of depression. Feeling helpless and frustrated, his youngest daughter, Agnes, applies for a job as a governess to the children of a wealthy, upper-class, English family. Ecstatic at the thought that she has finally gained control and freedom over her own life, Agnes arrives at the Bloomfield mansion armed with confidence and purpose.
-
-
Loved it
- By Kerry on 05-22-10
By: Anne Brontë
-
Middlemarch
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 35 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dorothea Brooke is an ardent idealist who represses her vivacity and intelligence for the cold, theological pedant Casaubon. One man understands her true nature: the artist Will Ladislaw. But how can love triumph against her sense of duty and Casaubon’s mean spirit? Meanwhile, in the little world of Middlemarch, the broader world is mirrored: the world of politics, social change, and reforms, as well as betrayal, greed, blackmail, ambition, and disappointment.
-
-
Best Audible book ever
- By Molly-o on 12-25-11
By: George Eliot
-
Ruth
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Eve Matheson
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The orphaned heroine Ruth, apprenticed to a dressmaker, is seduced by wealthy Henry Bellingham who is captivated by her simplicity and beauty. Their affair causes her to lose her home and job to which he offers her shelter, only to cruelly abandon her soon after. She is offered a chance of a new life though shamed in the eyes of society by her illegitimate son. When Henry reappears offering marriage she must choose between social acceptance and her own pride.
-
-
Fallen Woman Finds Redemption
- By Susan on 12-06-12
-
Wives and Daughters
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 25 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, Wives and Daughters centers on the story of youthful Molly Gibson, brought up from childhood by her father. When he remarries, a new stepsister enters Molly's quiet life, the loveable, but worldly and troubling, Cynthia. The narrative traces the development of the two girls into womanhood within the gossiping and watchful society of Hollingford.
-
-
It's not about the ending!
- By Sandra on 07-25-05
-
North and South
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written at the request of Charles Dickens, North and South is a book about rebellion that poses fundamental questions about the nature of social authority and obedience. Gaskell expertly blends individual feeling with social concern and her heroine, Margaret Hale, is one of the most original creations of Victorian literature. When Margaret Hale's father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience she is forced to leave her comfortable home in the tranquil countryside of Hampshire....
-
-
Delightful
- By Sally on 01-04-10
-
My Lady Ludlow
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Susannah York
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lady Ludlow's appalling snobbery, prejudice and bred-in-the-bone conviction as to the superiority of the English aristocracy and their feudal way of life are deliciously tested, and found wanting, in this gently radical tale of the collapse of a social system. Elizabeth Gaskell's My Lady Ludlow is a brilliant picture of the shift in power in a rural northern village, from the velvety feudal Ludlows to the glitter of the new money rattling through the system courtesy of the brazen baker from Birmingham.
-
-
A treat
- By Tad Davis on 03-04-20
-
Agnes Grey
- By: Anne Brontë
- Narrated by: Emilia Fox
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having lost the family savings on risky investments, Richard Grey removes himself from family life and suffers a bout of depression. Feeling helpless and frustrated, his youngest daughter, Agnes, applies for a job as a governess to the children of a wealthy, upper-class, English family. Ecstatic at the thought that she has finally gained control and freedom over her own life, Agnes arrives at the Bloomfield mansion armed with confidence and purpose.
-
-
Loved it
- By Kerry on 05-22-10
By: Anne Brontë
-
Middlemarch
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 35 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dorothea Brooke is an ardent idealist who represses her vivacity and intelligence for the cold, theological pedant Casaubon. One man understands her true nature: the artist Will Ladislaw. But how can love triumph against her sense of duty and Casaubon’s mean spirit? Meanwhile, in the little world of Middlemarch, the broader world is mirrored: the world of politics, social change, and reforms, as well as betrayal, greed, blackmail, ambition, and disappointment.
-
-
Best Audible book ever
- By Molly-o on 12-25-11
By: George Eliot
-
Ruth
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Eve Matheson
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The orphaned heroine Ruth, apprenticed to a dressmaker, is seduced by wealthy Henry Bellingham who is captivated by her simplicity and beauty. Their affair causes her to lose her home and job to which he offers her shelter, only to cruelly abandon her soon after. She is offered a chance of a new life though shamed in the eyes of society by her illegitimate son. When Henry reappears offering marriage she must choose between social acceptance and her own pride.
-
-
Fallen Woman Finds Redemption
- By Susan on 12-06-12
-
Wives and Daughters
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 25 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, Wives and Daughters centers on the story of youthful Molly Gibson, brought up from childhood by her father. When he remarries, a new stepsister enters Molly's quiet life, the loveable, but worldly and troubling, Cynthia. The narrative traces the development of the two girls into womanhood within the gossiping and watchful society of Hollingford.
-
-
It's not about the ending!
- By Sandra on 07-25-05
-
North and South
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written at the request of Charles Dickens, North and South is a book about rebellion that poses fundamental questions about the nature of social authority and obedience. Gaskell expertly blends individual feeling with social concern and her heroine, Margaret Hale, is one of the most original creations of Victorian literature. When Margaret Hale's father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience she is forced to leave her comfortable home in the tranquil countryside of Hampshire....
-
-
Delightful
- By Sally on 01-04-10
-
Cousin Phillis
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Joe Marsh
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cousin Phillis – a miniature masterpiece – is set in the 1840s, when the coming of the railway was changing the face of England, and quiet rural communities, coming into contact with the outside world, were changed forever. The story focuses on the effect these changes have on a naïve country girl, Phillis, as she encounters love, with all its pains and pleasures, for the first time.
-
-
Delicate Story
- By Mama C on 01-08-11
-
The Making of a Marchioness
- By: Frances Hodgson-Burnett
- Narrated by: Lucy Scott
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Frances Hodgson Burnett published The Making of a Marchioness in 1901. She had written Little Lord Fauntleroy 15 years before and would write The Secret Garden in 10 years' time; it is these two books for which she is best known. Yet Marchioness was one of Nancy Mitford's favourite books, was considered 'the best novel Mrs Hodgson Burnett wrote' by Marghanita Laski, and is taught on a university course in America together with novels such as Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Daisy Miller.
-
-
A Sweet Romantic Tale
- By Curatina on 11-23-11
-
Mary Barton
- A Tale of Manchester Life
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When her father assassinates Henry Carson, his employer's son and Mary's admirer, suspicion falls on Mary's second admirer, Jem, a fellow worker. Mary has to prove her lover's innocence without incriminating her own father.
-
-
Mrs. Gaskell was so far ahead of her time
- By Pat on 08-20-13
-
Mansfield Park
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Frances Barber
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the self-effacing 10-year-old Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relations at Mansfield Park she seems shy and withdrawn beside her witty and vivacious cousins. Growing up in the Bertram household, she is always treated as an inferior, only finding an ally in her cousin Edmund. But Fanny's steadfast and purposeful character eventually makes her an indispensable part of the household. During the absence of Fanny's uncle, the others become entangled in a maze of flirtation and intrigue upon the arrival of Mary Crawford and her brother Henry.
-
-
Character Will Out
- By Daniel E. Ritchie on 05-18-14
By: Jane Austen
-
Emma [Naxos Edition]
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of Jane Austen's most popular novels. Arrogant, self-willed, and egotistical, Emma is her most unusual heroine.
-
-
Excellent in Every Way
- By Carole T. on 06-20-12
By: Jane Austen
-
Northanger Abbey
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Catherine Morland, a country clergyman's daughter, is invited to spend a season in Bath with the fashionable high society, little does she imagine the delights and perils that await her. Captivated and disconcerted by what she finds, and introduced to the joys of "Gothic novels" by her new friend, Isabella, Catherine longs for mystery and romance. When she is invited to stay with the beguiling Henry Tilney and his family at Northanger Abbey, she expects mystery and intrigue at every turn.
-
-
Awesome
- By Johnny on 08-01-09
By: Jane Austen
-
Shirley
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
- Length: 25 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the industrialising England of the Napoleonic wars, a period of bad harvests, Luddite riots, and economic unrest, Shirley is the story of two contrasting heroines and the men they love. One is the shy Caroline Helstone, trapped in the oppressive atmosphere of a Yorkshire rectory, whose life represents the plight of single women in the 19th century. The other is the vivacious Shirley Keeldar, who inherits a local estate and whose wealth liberates her from convention.
-
-
"As Romantic As Monday Morning"
- By Joseph R on 09-15-09
By: Charlotte Brontë
-
Vanity Fair
- By: William Makepeace Thackeray
- Narrated by: John Castle
- Length: 31 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set during the time of the Napoleonic Wars, this classic gives a satirical picture of a worldly society. The novel revolves around the exploits of the impoverished but beautiful and devious Becky Sharp who craves wealth and a position in society. Calculating and determined to succeed, she charms, deceives and manipulates everyone she meets. A novel of early 19th-century English society, it takes its title from the place designated as the centre of human corruption in John Bunyan's 17th-century allegory.
-
-
Fun Book, Incredible Narrator
- By Lauriesland on 02-12-12
-
Persuasion
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anne Elliot has grieved for seven years over the loss of her first love, Captain Frederick Wentworth. But events conspire to unravel the knots of deceit and misunderstanding in this beguiling and gently comic story of love and fidelity.
-
-
Juliet Stevenson is Simply Amazing
- By Em on 04-15-12
By: Jane Austen
-
The Complete Mapp and Lucia, Volume 1
- By: E. F. Benson
- Narrated by: Georgina Sutton
- Length: 26 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sharply observant and wickedly funny, E.F. Benson's six Mapp and Lucia novels satirize the upper-middle-class social climbers in 1920s and '30s rural England. Games of bridge and cups of tea fuel hilarious gossip and vindictive plots a-plenty. It is a masterfully sustained spotlight on the minutiae of village life - a clever and ultimately heart-warming series that seems tailor-made for audio. Volume 1 contains the first three books.
-
-
At last!
- By Grace M-T on 06-15-21
By: E. F. Benson
-
Lark Rise
- By: Flora Thompson
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lark Rise is Flora Thompson's childhood memories of a north Oxfordshire village, the people who lived and worked in it, and a way of life that has totally disappeared. The story is built around Laura and her brother Edmund, through whose eyes are seen 'old Sally', whose grandfather built the house she lived in before the enclosure of the heathland, children's games, the interaction of village and gentry, and the way in which the seasons governed life.
-
-
A glimpse...
- By Roses Revealing Reviews on 05-31-20
By: Flora Thompson
-
The Giver of Stars
- A Novel
- By: Jojo Moyes
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So, when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically. The leader, and soon Alice's greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who's never asked a man's permission for anything.
-
-
Weird Similarities to “The Book Woman...”
- By MMinSouthernCA on 11-21-19
By: Jojo Moyes
Publisher's Summary
Exclusively from Audible
A vivid and affectionate portrait of the residents of an English country town in the mid-19th century, Cranford describes a community dominated by its independent and refined women, relating the adventures of Miss Matty and Miss Deborah, two middle-aged spinster sisters striving to live with dignity in reduced circumstances.
Through a series of satirical vignettes, Gaskell sympathetically portrays changing small town customs and values in mid-Victorian England, in a community governed by old-fashioned habits and dominated by friendships between women. Her wry account of rural life is undercut, however, by tragedy: with such troubling events as Matty's bankruptcy, the death of Captain Brown and the unwitting cruelty of Peter Jenkyns.
Gaskell was an accomplished writer who had many of her stories published in Charles Dickens' magazine Household Words. She was also friends with Charlotte Brontë and after her death, her father, Patrick Brontë, chose Gaskell to write The Life of Charlotte Brontë.
Narrator Biography
Prunella Scales is a classically trained stage actress but is best known for her role as Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers (1975-1979) and for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in A Question of Attribution (1991), for which she was nominated for a BAFTA.
Her film appearances have included Stiff Upper Lips (1997), Howards End (1992) and Wolf (1994). She was awarded the CBE for her services to drama in 1992 and the Patricia Rothermere Award for her contributions to British Theatre in 2001. More recent appearances have included the mini-series The Shell Seekers (2006), a production of Carrie's War at the Apollo Theatre (2009) and Horrid Henry: The Movie (2013).
Julian Barnes’ The Lemon Table and Anne Fine’s Charm School are among the many audiobooks Prunella Scales has narrated.
More from the same
What listeners say about Cranford
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- T.
- 03-26-12
Quietly, subtly sweet and heartwarming
If you don't listen closely, you may miss the subtle sweetness of this heartwarming tale. There were times, mostly in the beginning, when my mind wandered and I became impatient with the seemingly trivial accounts of this Cranford lady or that. But I'm SO glad I kept listening, and had the opportunity to get to know and love Miss Mattie! What an example of the embodiment humility, kindness, and justice she is! The only other Elizabeth Gaskell novel I've read is "North and South." I loved it, and was expecting something similar from "Cranford." The novels couldn't be more dissimilar when it comes to plot and pace, but when it comes to highlighting the beauty of human decency, both do an excellent job.
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Carl Smith
- 01-31-08
throughly enjoyed this
A lovely, gentle satire of the Ladies of Cranford. Written with affection and respect and an incredible eye to detail (which I enjoyed) and exceptionally well read by my favorate narrator.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Susan
- 04-18-10
Absolutely charming!
After having seen Cranford and Return to Cranford on PBS, my daughters and I were interested in hearing the original story. We were delighted! What a wonderful book to listen to by the fireside as we did this winter. We're great fans of Elizabeth Gaskell now.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Goss
- 04-20-12
One of my go-to listens!
I love this book! Its a series of vignettes of the lives of women in Cranford. I first decided to listen to this when they announced that it was coming to masterpiece classic, and while i thoroughly enjoyed the show, the book is so much better. Even after so many listens, I still crack up at the antics of some of the characters. Prunella Scales does a wonderful narration and Mrs Gaskell does a great job making the everyday lives of Victiorian women entertaining. I would recommend this to those who enjoy the novels of Georgette Heyer and are looking for something similar yet different.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- connie
- 01-19-08
4 stars for narrator; 3 for novel
The is <i>very</i> gentle social satire, and a poor cousin to most of Austen's, but I liked the book very much under the circumstances in which I listened - Lying sick in bed for a couple of days, I enjoyed the novel in just two sessions. However, if you're looking for something to inspire your morning work out, this wouldn't be it!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John
- 03-31-21
An Enjoyable, Disjointed Patchwork
I listened, unaware of this book’s odd pedigree: a village character sketch that somehow grew into a sort-of novel. Finding it a tad disjointed at the start, as things proceeded, I feared I was the disjointed one. But no, preoccupied with another three-volume project, it’s generally admitted now that Mrs. Gaskell let this one get away from her.
Still, there’s much here to enjoy. The parallels to Austen go beyond mere setting and cast. Gaskell plays an Austenian trick—bringing us to the point of disliking a character thoroughly, then shaming us by showing how we’ve misjudged them—several times. This lets her (and us) simultaneously laugh at and empathize with the Cranford ladies as they struggle to maintain social standards in the face of railroads and other social upheavals (like marriage).
I’ve always enjoyed Prunella Scales, but I fear I was distracted from her fine reading by that same disjointed feeling (she seems to be getting it…why can’t I?). Still, she does a fine job here, and never more so than with the slyly funny Austenian lines.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- RueRue
- 07-27-16
An absolute delight !
Such a wonderful little story ! It might be said that nothing much happens, and if you are looking for plot-driven entertainments, you won't find it here. This is a story about the ladies ( and a few men ) of Cranford, in a time and society that are in the past. This lovely story celebrates the kindness and goodness of people, even as it also sees the humor in the eccentricities of its characters. If you enjoy the world of Jane Austen, this comes very close. And, perfect narration !
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Jane Ng
- 11-05-09
Slow but beautiful
This is a slow moving novel that beautifully portrays life in a Victorian small town, where delicacy is the order of the day despite poverty. It isn't tragic, but there is a sense of gentle sadness about the stifled lives of the ladies of Cranford and their lost chances.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- BookCult
- 01-28-16
Great Narrator
I was so glad I picked this narrator. Scales has a very pleasant voice and never distracted from the narrative. She has a great ability to bring out the emotions in a story without being overt or obnoxious about it.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- nomdeplume
- 07-28-17
Loved the audible version
I was surprised at how much I loved the audible version of this book, which I had read before. Prunella Scale's performance is truly outstanding and adds immensely to the enjoyment of the book.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Sharon
- 05-26-09
Best Cranford Reading!
Prunella Scales is an excellent intrepreter of Mrs Gaskell, I loved her characterization and reading of 'Wives and Daughters', and this first and lighter work by EG is just as fabulous.
This actress shows respect for the book, the emotions of the plot are accurately voiced and I really have her work as one of the reasons I love audio books. Forget the dreadful abridged or US readings, (sorry, I'd say the same if an English reader was doing an American work) and listen to this one, the only and best in my opinion.
46 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Bastet Pybus
- 10-09-09
Delightful
Prunella Scales is a wonderful reader, sensitive to the nuances of Gaskell's writing and able to bring out all the comedy and pathos of this underrated book. Delightful!
20 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Kim
- 04-08-13
Brilliantly read
This is beautifully read by Prunella Scales.
You don't get much definition of voice between different characters, but it could be said that the same is true of the original book, as one person relays everything that happens to the reader. You're drawn into the lives and gossip of the women of Cranford, giving a social history of the time, but in a very minute way.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Mrs
- 08-13-15
Cranford
A real delight and completely unexpected. Although I knew the story from the television adaptation I was quite unprepared for the wit and humanity of the writing. It made me laugh and cry and who better to read it to you than Prunella Scales.
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 05-17-15
Wonderful storytelling
Absolutely loved it. The story is so uplifting and Prunella Scales is a perfect narrator.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- C. Campbell
- 07-23-15
Great narration of a classic
This was a good production of a book I struggled with as a teenager many years ago. Prunella Scales is the perfect narrator, and brings the little vllage with all of its eccentricities to life vividly. I enjoyed it very much!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Paula Diggle
- 05-23-17
Fine audiobook
A much loved nineteenth century classic in which not very much happens yet there is so much to hear about - much like real life. Prunella Scales reading is full of affection, with some good northern accents. She makes it easy to understand this delightful period piece. Will listen again for the pure pleasure.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Molly
- 03-21-15
Beautifully read - great story
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
This is very gentle and whilst it won't have you on the edge of your seat it is soothingly addictive
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Susan Whitehead
- 06-17-16
Cranford
The descriptions of small town life in the 19th century are beautifully done. There is not much story as such and in this way it differs from the other books of Mrs Gaskell.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jem16
- 08-11-20
A gentle delight.
I was supposed to read Cranford in English Literature at school but refused to read any book I was told to! So I’ve returned to it 50+ years later, having recently devoured both North and South and Wives and Daughters with much appreciation. What a treat I’d missed - but I doubt I would have enjoyed Elizabeth Gaskell’s gloriously genteel ladies in my teens nearly as much as I do now with a bit of life experience to pad out their characters. A gentle delight from start to finish, it never palls, and enthrals the listener with its portrait of a lost way of life, and the vicissitudes of the kindly Miss Mattie told by her young friend Mary. Prunella Scales’ skilful narration is pitch perfect, of course, and doesn’t miss a beat.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amie
- 10-07-16
love!!!!!
one of my favourite stories! always helps me relax listening to it. Narration was good.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 05-21-22
So beautifully read by Prunella Scales.
I used to adore this book many years ago. Even visited Lacock in Britain when travelling because I was also captivated by the BBC series.
I just love Prunella’s beautiful reading - she has brought the characters to life.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Lydia Brichta
- 03-15-22
Delightful
The reader is wonderful and so gifted with accents and mannerisms to separate the characters. The story is gentle and lovely and quietly witty.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 02-14-22
Delightful Cranford
Prunella Scales is a wonderful narrator and makes this work pure joy. Perfectly written and read.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 01-29-22
Disappointed
Was disappointed with this story compared to others by the same author. Although the narration was fine.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Georgette Heyer
- 11-21-21
Delightful!
I enjoyed spending time with the ladies - and the occasional gentleman! - of Cranford. I do not rate this book as highly as others be Elizabeth Gaskell, but it is still good and very delightful. So warm and comfortable to read.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Louise Hobson
- 04-13-21
A delightful tale
What joy to listen to the tales of the simple and gentle folk of Cranford. Prunella Scales does Mrs Gaskell proud.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Robyn
- 04-05-18
The quiet beauty if deep feelings....
And why they should always be allowed the fullest expression.... an excellent reading of the story of a community growing to naturity.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Min
- 04-13-17
Snoreville (whoops, I mean 'Cranford')
Eugh.
I just wanted to be cultured.
What can I say about this snooze-fest that hasn't yet been said? Probably anything, as I am most likely the only person ever to not have fallen asleep by it's boringness.
I made it half way through Chapter 8, and every second of it was like Chinese water torture. I have endured minute after minute of discussion about bonnets and shawls. There is no drama, no war, no lust, crime or deceit, and not even a hint of an ankle.
I thought the book was looking up when the skanky maid was banned from seeing all the boys in town, but no. Back to talk of bonnets.
The only memorable bit was when some old broad was kicked out of the ladies' tea party, because she slurped her orange too loudly.
Whoops, I think I just spoiled the best part of the story.
1 person found this helpful