Precious Bane was written by Mary Webb and first published in 1924. Narrated by the central character Prue Sarn, whose life is blighted by having a harelip. Only the weaver, Kester Woodseaves, perceives her inner beauty but Prue cannot believe herself worthy of him. Prue is wrongly accused of murder and only one man can save her and take her away to the happiness she believes she can never possess because of her harelip. A forgotten classic set in rural Shropshire at the turn of the 19th c...

Mary Gladys Meredith was born on 25th March 1881 at Leighton Lodge in the village of Leighton, near Shrewsbury in Shropshire.Mary was home-schooled by her father before being sent to a finishing school in Southport in 1895. Her longs walks in the countryside helped her develop a heightened sense of observation and description, of both people and places, which later infused both her poetry and prose.When she was 20 she developed symptoms of Graves' disease, a thyroid disorde...

Mary Gladys Meredith was born on 25th March 1881 at Leighton Lodge in the village of Leighton, near Shrewsbury in Shropshire.Mary was home-schooled by her father before being sent to a finishing school in Southport in 1895. Her longs walks in the countryside helped her develop a heightened sense of observation and description, of both people and places, which later infused both her poetry and prose.When she was 20 she developed symptoms of Graves' disease, a thyroid disorde...

A captivating continuation of classic ghostly fiction filled with mystery and suspense. This volume presents another collection of unforgettable supernatural tales, featuring haunted places, mysterious apparitions, and eerie encounters that blur the line between reality and the unknown. Written by Various Authors, this anthology offers timeless thrills for lovers of supernatural literature.

This is the story of us all at Sarn, of Mother and Gideon and me, and Jancis, and Wizard Beguildy, and the two or three other folk that lived in those parts, that I did set out to tell. There were but a few, and maybe always will be, for there’s a discouragement about the place. It may be the water lapping, year in and year out—everywhere you look and listen, water; or the big trees waiting and considering on your right hand and on your left; or the unbreathing quiet of the place, as if it...

A vivid, emotional stage version of Mary Webb's novel of rural passion, premiered by Shared Experience Theatre Company.Incorporating traditional dances and folk songs, Gone to Earth tells the story of Hazel, an innocent and free-spirited seventeen-year-old child of nature living in rural Shropshire. But when both the wicked squire and the altruistic minister fall in love with her, she is drawn into a world of earthly passions which threatens to destroy her – as simply and ...

At the very beginning of the twentieth century, Deborah Arden is living with her father John, mother Patty and younger brother Joe in their cottage high up on the exposed moorland hilltops of Shropshire. Their farm is given over to the sheep her father cares for with great tenderness. Their life is simple and their concerns are those of the people of the land. Nature rules their world, and they respond by working alongside its almost unanswerable power on the farm. Patty's argumentative pr...

The arrival of Ralph Elmer at the "Mermaid's Rest" disrupts the quiet love between eighteen-year-old farmer's daughter Gillian Lovekin and Robert Rideout, her father's shepherd.

The interwar English novelist and poet Mary Webb is best known for her masterpiece ‘Precious Bane’ and for her lyrical style, conveying a rich and intense impression of her beloved Shropshire countryside home. Though in her lifetime her novels suffered neglect, a reappraisal of her work after her early death has drawn comparisons with the works of Thomas Hardy, sharing a love of nature and a sense of impending doom. For the first time in publishing history, this eBook presents Webb...

Continue your journey into the realms of magic and mystery with The Book of Shadows II — the powerful sequel to the beloved classic of spiritual practice and esoteric knowledge. Written by various authors and practitioners, this expanded collection delves deeper into the sacred arts of spellcraft, divination, alchemy, and energy work — offering new rituals, advanced techniques, and profound spiritual insights. Within these pages, you'll discover guidance on moon magic, elemental invocation...

Dark visions, eerie encounters, and the lingering presence of the unknown. In The Book of Shadows Vol. 2, a distinguished group of writers—including Bram Stoker, H. G. Wells, Robert W. Chambers, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Arthur Machen, Mary Webb, John Buchan, William Fryer Harvey, Masterpiece Everywhere, and Hugh Walpole—come together in a chilling continuation of supernatural storytelling. This volume gathers haunting tales where the boundaries between reality and the unseen begin to fade....

Return to the twilight world where ghostly whispers, uncanny visions, and forbidden knowledge shape the very fabric of reality. The Book of Shadows Vol. II continues the journey begun in the first volume, gathering a new selection of supernatural, gothic, and psychologically unsettling tales from master storytellers of the late Victorian and early modern eras. This volume deepens the atmosphere of dread and wonder with stories that explore spectral visitations, shadowed mansions, cursed ob...