In a North Country Village


Read by Phil Benson

(4.4 stars; 23 reviews)


M. E. Francis was born Mary E. Sweetman in Dublin and moved to Lancashire on her marriage to Francis Nicholas Blundell, of the Blundell family, who remain squires of Little Crosby, the last Catholic recusant village in England, which lies a few miles north of Liverpool. Blundell died young and Mary went on to write more than 50 books, using her husband's Christian name as pen name, including this collection of 12 stories set in Little Crosby (‘Thornleigh’).

A romantic portrait of mid-19th century village life written from an aristocratic point of view, In a North Country Village (1896) is built around striking portraits of strong Lancashire women surviving in the face of Hardyesque tragedy and the weaknesses of their men folk. M. E. Francis set many of her books in Ireland and Dorset, but several were set in Lancashire, including A Daughter of the Soil (1895), Yeoman Fleetwood (1900) and Marjory o'th' Mill (1907). (Summary by Phil Benson) (5 hr 0 min)

Chapters

01 - Thornleigh 23:58 Read by Phil Benson
02 - Gaffer's Child 30:50 Read by Phil Benson
03 - Celebrities 28:30 Read by Phil Benson
04 - Nancy 35:48 Read by Phil Benson
05 - Politics 14:08 Read by Phil Benson
06 - The Gilly'fers 34:07 Read by Phil Benson
07 - Aunt Jinny 29:25 Read by Phil Benson
08 - On the other side of the wall 23:25 Read by Phil Benson
09 - Little paupers 18:51 Read by Phil Benson
10 - Here and there 25:52 Read by Phil Benson
11 - "Our Joe" 20:15 Read by Phil Benson
12 - Mates 15:31 Read by Phil Benson

Reviews

charming tales of village life


(5 stars)

Charming short stories and beautifully read. Thank you to the narrator.


(4 stars)

THE READER MAKES IT!!! Thank u Phil Benson. So well written and heartwarming and vivid.

Cute Short Stories to pass the time


(4 stars)

Loved the book , loved the accent of the reader which matched pe


(5 stars)

Barbie Barbie