Miss Buncle's Book

By: D. E. Stevenson

Narrated by: Patricia Gallimore

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

The scene of this entertaining story is laid in a charming English village. The plot centres round Miss Barbara Buncle, a maiden lady who was obliged to write a book because – as she naively explained – her dividends were so poor. Unfortunately, Miss Buncle had no imagination, so she wrote about her friends – quite kindly and truthfully, of course, for she was a benevolent and veracious soul.

The reactions of her friends to Miss Buncle’s book, however, were a little surprising, and the far-reaching and unexpected results of its publication caused quite a stir.

©1934 D. E. Stevenson (P)2010 Soundings

Fun and fluffy and charming and made me laugh

Like the soufflé light, yet satisfying fare served up by PG Wodehouse, DE Stevenson is full of that particular English flavor. This book makes you laugh, roll your eyes, shake your head and feel good in a sappy way. I liked it very much. Highly recommend.

Hilarious and charming

Such a wonderful story that keeps you chuckling. I never reread books but I had to listen to this one and enjoy it one more time.

Delightful story and narrator

Quietly humorous and clever. A story for those who love books about books. Narrator is perfect.

A complete pleasure

Any additional comments?

I am new to DE Stevenson books-- but the reviews I read about it were so positive I thought I'd give it a try. At first I thought I might have made a mistake--but my suggestion is to wait before judging and keep going. The book is a total charmer. Extremely funny--with hysterical exchanges between the perfectly developed characters. The book was written in the 1930's so it really portrays a whole other world for the reader. It reminded me of the style of humor in the Cary Grant movie Bringing up Baby or the more recent What's Up Doc with Ryan O'Neal and Barbra Streisand. Slap stick silliness. It was really fun listening and I look forward to other books by this author. Strongly recommended!

Delightful Experience

I haved loved reading D E Stevenson books for years. But HEARING her words read to me is a whole new experience and gave me a new appreciation for her writing. What a delight. I will definitely look for more of her books to purchase.

Pure Enjoyment!!!

I first stumbled across this book when I was in college.
So fun and what a delightful surprise!!
If you’re looking for something light and laugh-out-loud funny, then this is for you.
D. E. Stevenson’s books are filled with both delightful and exasperating characters.

Absolutely the best book of the year☺

Everyone was so real, true to life that it was funny. I am hoping that there is another such in my future!

A delight!

I’ll be coming back to this book for a charming and lovely read. On to the next in the series!

Loved it!

I wish more books were this clever and this enjoyable. Can't find high quality writing like this in these rude and crude times.

Were my expectations too high?

Have I become too much of a curmudgeon? Perhaps, but this one left me underwhelmed, largely due to finding most of the characters unlikeable (or at least uninteresting). Miss Buncle herself is incredibly dull, at one point partway through when another character speculates aloud about who the mystery writer might be, she dismisses Miss Buncle to her face as "not smart enough"; towards the end, Miss Buncle "confesses" to another villager, only to be brushed off. She states to her publisher, "I have no imagination at all, so cannot write fiction. I can only report what I see." Zzzzzzzz ...
The new young vicar came off as a silly, slightly pompous twit, although at the end of the spectrum, Sally, the girl who comes to live next door to Miss Buncle, shows a great deal of enthusiasm and practicality, becoming about the only friend Miss Buncle seems to have at all, except perhaps for the doctor's wife; that lady and her husband were about the best of the local lot. The rest were fairly ... stock.
1930's England can be interesting, though this lot made the book seem a bit dated to me. One point that did pique my curiosity concerned the two older women "sharing expenses" who came across as a Don't Ask, Don't Tell same sex couple, tacitly acknowledged by the doctor himself at one point when he consults one at length about the condition of the other exactly as though she were a spouse.
Audio narration was quite good, as Ms. Gallimore differentiated characters well, so I'd recommend the book for folks who love stories set when the (upper) middle class still had servants, but the stuffiness of the Victorian era had pretty much worn off.