Jane and Prudence
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Jane and Prudence
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Narrated by:
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Maggie Mash
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By:
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Barbara Pym
About this listen
Over the years, as Barbara Pym replaced Nancy Mitford, Georgette Heyer, even Jane Austen, as my most loved author, I devoured all her books, but Jane and Prudence remains my favourite. Even an umpteenth reading this weekend was punctuated by gasps of joy, laughter and wonder that this lovely book should remain so fresh, funny and true to life" - Jilly Cooper
"The setting of this very funny novel, one of Barbara Pym's earliest, is an English village where Jane's husband is the newly appointed vicar, and where Prudence will pay Jane a visit and find herself courted by a fatuous young widower. Prudence, at twenty-nine, has achieved nothing in life but a dull research job in London and a string of dud affairs; Jane, now in her forties, was Prudence's tutor at Oxford. Jane cheerfully concedes that she is an incompetent housewife, but she hopes that the move to a rural parish may transform her into a Trollopean vicar's wife, as well as a crafty matchmaker. There are many comic complications here, as Jane learns that matchmaking has as many pitfalls as does housewifery" - The New Yorker
©1953 Barbara Pym (P)2011 Hachette DigitalListeners also enjoyed...
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What listeners say about Jane and Prudence
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Alex Dean
- 31-07-11
More Please
A real joy to finally have some Barbara Pym here..if you've never read or listened to any of her books you are in for a real treat and if you have.. well you know already how good this is going to be. I'm keeping everything crossed that we get some more Pym...........please!!!
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marianne Caton
- 13-03-21
most enjoyable
This is one of my favourite Barbara Pym novels. I really like Jane. Not so keen on Prue. The narrator was very good. I did not think she over-acted at all. Her clear delineation of the different characters added to my enjoyment.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Liz O'Sullivan
- 23-10-16
An excellent rendition overall.
A thoroughly enjoyable reading of this closely-observed comedy of manners, filled with what now seem old-fashioned characters, attitudes & expectations. A nostalgic study of mid-20th century, middle-class life & romance.
My one criticism would be that several characters speech is far too slow & ponderous even for the types & times portrayed. But as a great Pym fan, I still loved it! 🙂
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 31-10-21
My least favourite Barbara Pym
It's hard to say whether it was the poor reading of this book, but i felt pretty disappointed in it, and I am a Barbara Pym fan. Of course BP sets most of her stories in the period after the war, which is a pretty depressing time. However, I've enjoyed her other books a lot. The story here seemed less interesting and the characters held my attention much less than is the case with her other books. Can it really be that the conversation at that time was so banal and shallow, for example?
I think now that Angela Thirkell has overtaken BP as my favourite author of that genre; Summer Half and August Folly, for example, are quite outstanding in my view, but they do have the benefit of being set in pre-war England and therefore lack that grey sadness that is at once one of Pym's strengths and also perhaps a drawback.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 29-09-22
The joy of meagre things
Another enjoyment of small lives enriched by constrained imaginings in post-WW2 London and environs from the author who made this territory her own. Not as funny as the delightful “Certain Women” (possibly Pym’s best) but superbly performed and a worthwhile listening experience on that score alone.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Nakul
- 30-06-12
A delight
The book is a delight, though a shame to have a number of plot points revealed in Jilly Cooper's introduction (less easy to skip in an audiobook). Not overfond of Maggie Mash's narration – she over-enunciates, and simply misunderstands the tone of a considerable portion of the dialogue.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bame
- 10-11-21
Loved the book - hated the narrator!
Barbara Pym deserves very much greater public recognition than she has so far received. There is so much to love and admire in her work which has a charm and humour all it's own. I will definitely seek out all her other books.
That I endured the agonising narration to the end of the book speaks volumes for the author. Maggie Mash managed to make all the characters spoken dialogue sound slow, ponderous, pretentious and generally robbed them all of any of the character, intonation and humour obviously intended by the author. If this is the only audio version of this book, please take my advice and read it instead!!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- happy reader
- 12-12-16
excellent
Barbara Pym is the modern Austin. You can't go wrong with any of her novels. a
A delicious read.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 24-01-23
Middle class life in the fifties.
Sharp observation and wonderful use of English but marred by a less than adequate delivery which was over deliberate, often plodding.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- datz
- 19-04-22
Ruined by poor narration.
Sorry to have to say this, but the vocal performance of the narrator is terrible - really slow and ponderous, with no feel for the nuance of the text. Such a pity.
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