South Riding

By: Winifred Holtby

Narrated by: Carole Boyd

Length: 19 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

In this rich and memorable evocation of the fictional South Riding of Yorkshire are the lives, loves and sorrows of the central characters.

There is Sarah Burton, fiery young headmistress; Robert Carne of Maythorpe Hall, a councillor tormented by his own disastrous marriage; Jo Astell, a socialist fighting poverty and his own illness; and Mrs Beddows, the first woman Alderman of the district (like Winifred's own mother). They are the people who work together in the council chambers and backrooms of local politics. Alongside them, however, are the people affected by their decisions.

©2009 Winifred Holtby (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

A thoroughly good story

5stars for all 3 categories. What a lovely well written story, set in one of my favorite time periods. It covers the changes in the traditional roles of both men and women but shows how love and other emotions are timeless. The characters all complement each other even with their own peculiarities, the rural settings seem so familiar to me even thought mine were from East Anglia. Sarah our teacher seems an alien educated opinionated modern woman, set to make her own footprint, a town dweller no less. Where in fact she was coming back to her roots.
I admit I found this a hard book to get into at first but I am so glad I persisted I enjoyed it so much and recommend anyone to get absorbed. Enjoy….

Absorbing, Deep Immersion into Human Nature

I loved losing myself in this panoramic yet intimate story of a community that is emerging, painfully, into the modern era. Deep poverty exists side by side with precarious well-being; women are just beginning to claw their way out of oppressive domestic limits. There are fortunes to be made and lost, reputations ion the brink, lives in the balance. Every character is on the verge of ruin and heartbreak in one way or another. People survive and help others to survive through courage and generosity.

I took a few breaks during the 19-plus hours of this narrative but could not resist coming back to it and was sorry when it ended. This is one of the truly great works of British literature, really should be better known.

Narration is absolutely fantastic. And I say this as an extremely picky reader!

Worth Revisiting

I wanted to love this book, but a huge cast of characters involved with local Yorkshire politics—politics being a topic which I shrink away from—did not exactly win me over in the beginning. Soon, some key figures emerged, namely Sarah Burton, the new and youngish headmistress at the local high school, and Robert Carne, a broke and principled landowner and descendant from a venerable family regarded locally as a lord—if not in actuality, then figuratively. Little by little, as the politics took a secondary place and the various individuals became more fleshed out, in this poor community between the wars struggling to improve the lot of it's residents, I was pulled in by their various stories and struggles. I eventually found myself truly caring about Sarah and Carne, the modern and independent clever woman falling in love with the older man defeated by personal tragedy. And County Alderman Mrs Beddows,—at first seeming like a mere figurehead as the first Alderman woman (apparently as Holtby's own mother was)—a married septuagenarian more than a little bit in love with Carne too, earned my affection in the end. A book I feel I should have appreciated more than I did, and which I may very likely revisit eventually.

Carole Boyd is one of my favourite narrators and delivers a flawless performance as always.

Superb!

Stumbled on to this book while browsing Audible, and all I can say is “Wow!” Ms Holtby’s excellent
writing combined with Ms Boyd’s beautiful narration makes for a wonderful combination. A gem of a story, written in the 30’s and deserving a place amongst the classics! Winifred Holtby was an impressive women in her own rights- writer, journalist, poet, activist and sadly died way too young. So happy to have found this writer and this narrator!

Politics and Love in 193

Any additional comments?

Many have pointed out a Jane Eyre connection in reading this book. But, having just finished A Casual Vacancy before diving into the lives of South Riding I am inclined to think that perhaps JKR has also spent time with the characters then took a 90º turn and wrote a raw story for today's world with South Riding peopling her imagination.

South Riding, in it's time, was just as raw and vivid as JKR's Vacancy. It helped me to understand some of the thought processes on both sides of the conservative and liberal thinkers in England's 1930s.

And in the end we are shown the effect of politics on the lives of those living in South Riding. It provides insight into the thought processes of those trying to determine for themselves, and others around them, a better way to deal with the pains, sorrows, wickedness and joys that life has handed to them.

The story was absorbing and well written, though along with it comes the final paragraphs with a long and drawn out moral to the story. I understand why Holtby would use the story as a platform to voice her beliefs - it was the 1930s and there was much that needed to be said. However, by that point in the book I had already wrapped the story up in my mind and was ready to turn out the light.

Stunning

Knowing nothing of Winifred Holtby, but vaguely remembering seeing part of a dramatized version of South Riding, I read a few reviews and plunged in. This book is a marvel. Published posthumously, she seems to have poured all her creative gifts, wide knowledge of Yorkshire, and her fantastic use of language into this work. Beautiful.

A beautifully written book

I really liked the finely crafted, very human characters in this book and the way Holtby has skilfully brought them and their inmost thoughts, hopes, fears, successes and failures to life. Set in the fictional Yorkshire South Riding, the book describes the machinations behind the scenes of local government as well as the love two very different women bear for gentleman farmer Robert Carne, who has seen better days. There are many poignant moments and some beautiful descriptions of the Yorkshire coast and countryside. The story drags a bit at the end but is otherwise an absorbing listen.

Wonderful

I came to this after seeing the tv series and enjoyed it just as much. What started out as an apparently dry account of local council activities expanded into a wonderful and moving story.

South

I watched the dvd version of the book and needed to more about the characters. I thought the book was wonderful. I really felt for the characters in the book. This this the first book of Winifred Holtby that I read and love the details she gave us. Felt like I was right there with them.

A deserved classuc give a wonderful performance.

sad to come to the end of this warm, wise, sweeping story, brought so perfectly to life by Carole Boyd. Highly recommended.