The Corner that Held Them cover art

The Corner that Held Them

Penguin Modern Classics

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The Corner that Held Them

By: Sylvia Townsend Warner
Narrated by: Emma Gregory
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The nuns who enter a medieval Norfolk convent are told to renounce the world, but the world still finds ways to trouble them, whether it is through fire, floods, pestilence, a collapsing spire, jealous rivalries, a priest with a secret or a plague of caterpillars. As we follow their daily lives over three centuries, this masterpiece of historical fiction recreates a world run by women.

©1948 Sylvia Townsend Warner (P)2021 Penguin Audio Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Medieval Middle Ages

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Critic reviews

"One of the great British novels of the 20th century: a narrative of extraordinary reach, power and beauty." (Sarah Waters)

"As an act of imagined history this novel has few rivals. Also, as it happens, a work of high, frequent comedy." (George Steiner, The Times Literary Supplement)

"Spellbinding.... One starts rereading as soon as one has reached the last page." (Sunday Times)
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What an intense experience. At the beginning I was dubious and at times even a little bored. The story is hard to follow at times because characters ebb and flow and because the time frame is so long. But relinquishing that compulsion to keep track of everyone, and carried along by the masterful creation of an entire and unfamiliar world into which one is gradually drawn in, I became completely absorbed.

Emma Gregory’s narration is mesmerising. She has a beautiful voice but her performance is also witty, elegant, controlled.

Will be thinking about this one for a long time.

Extraordinary

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This book deserves to be more widely known. It's witty, subtle, moving and lyrical, with sharply observed characters, excellent period detail and a deep sense of place and time.

Emma Gregory's narration was equally wonderful: engaging and fluid, matching the rhythm of the book extremely well.

Probably the best experience I've had with an audio book.

A classic brilliantly narrated

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