I've just read Precious Bane and it was very moving. It should be better-known, her style is excellent, the characterisations extremely vivid, and the twist in the plot at the end quite unexpected. Prue Sarn is not at all your typical wet 19th c heroine, she is intelligent, sensitive, and assertive (which is why she gets into trouble with the society of her day). The Precious Bane of the title is usually interpreted as being her hare lip, which is certainly a very prominent theme in the book, but it could also be interpreted as the money after her which her brother Gideon constantly strives, which causes so much misfortune. And the hero is really good too, an animal rights campaigner before his time.

I am a senior in high school. I read this book under reccomendation from both my father and sister. Precious Bane truly was a breathtaking story. It's a shame it's out of regular print; I think if more people knew about this book, it would be much more widely read. I reccomended it to all my friends in school, and we together convinced our English teacher to use it as material for the course. Unfortunatly we all might have to pay the hefty $14 price if the school won't pay for it! I was hoping to find some used or paperback editions but alas my search has been to no avail!

I watched the last five minutes of the "PBS version" in '89 or '90, and it was so beautiful that it haunted me for years. Once I had found the book, I had little patience with the text's "accent", and I couldn't read it. A couple of years later, I was determined to conquer the book. I finally came to the realization that it's a love story. The dialect became easy, and I couldn't put the book down. Although the subject matter can be heavy at times, it's a must read for true romantics. Jane Eyre, eat your heart out!

This is another of Mary Webb's exquisitely crafted books, this time without the happy ending of Precious Bane. Hazel is a carefully sketched heroine whose character tugs at the heartstrings. One of those books that demands illustrations and close reading to enjoy.