The Perilous Gard

By: Elizabeth Marie Pope

Narrated by: Jill Tanner

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Kate Sutton is all arms and legs. She possesses none of her sister Alicia’s honey-eyed beauty, but is intelligent and willful like her grandfather. It is an injustice, then, when Kate is falsely accused of Alicia’s wrongdoing and is banished to remote Elvenwood Hall. But the world Kate encounters in Derbyshire, England, is so strange and otherworldly that she has little time for regret. Elvenwood Hall has another, secret name - the Perilous Gard - and a mysterious history to go with it. It isn’t long before Kate has a hundred questions about her new home. Who are the Fairy Folk? What is Master John’s dark intent? And who is the Lady in the Green? Soon, she is deep in a terrifying adventure and a daring attempt to rescue Christopher Heron from strange and unimaginable forces.

©1974 Elizabeth Marie Pope (P)1992 Recorded Books

Like Fine Wine

I've read this book 5 or 6 times now and it only gets better and better. There are so many nuances and depths to be discovered that it is like a bottomless well. The narration is so well done that it becomes transparent as it brings to life Katherine and Christopher and all the folk of the Gard and the Hill.

Amazing book but odd reader choices

The Perilous Gard might be my favorite book of all time, so if you’re wondering whether you should choose this audiobook based on the story, you absolutely should. It’s exquisite, understated historical fiction of the highest quality, with an admirable and believable heroine, a living and breathing sense of place and time, pristine historical detail—I can’t recommend it enough.

This reader has a very fine voice herself—a suitable English accent and genteel delivery—and she does solid and subtle voice-work for most characters, but there are many times when she misses an internal stage direction or the nuances of the dialogue. For example, when Kate says something “bemusedly,” “dully,” or “angrily,” the narrator often delivers it without the appropriate tone; the contrast is jarring. And there are rhythms and repetitions to Pope’s writing that this reader doesn’t pick up on at all. The audio quality is also iffy since this was digitized somehow from cassette—there’s a quiet but distracting echo at times, and at the end, the sound is muffled (but intelligible).

If it’s a choice between this audiobook and not taking the change to hear this exceptional story, you must choose the audiobook. But it’s perhaps high time for a new version.

I wish I wrote this book!

it's wonderfully imaginative, but the world the author creates is beautifully grounded in the historical era of Queens Mary and Elizabeth, and in the lovely English countryside.

Over and Over

I've been listening to audiobooks for a long time now, but I rarely listen to one more than once. This is an exception. I could listen to this over and over again (and I have). I love this story. Kate Sutton is an excellent heroine. She's strong and smart, but she makes mistakes. The author spends the perfect amount of time on description. Her characters and her settings spring to life in my mind. I own a hard copy of this book, too, because I love it so much, but Jill Tanner's narration is so good. I had listened to this book before I read it for the first time, and I was afraid I wouldn't like the book as much as I liked the audio because the audio is so fantastic. Oftentimes for me, great audio covers up flaws in the writing, but this book combines a fabulous book with a wonderful narrator.

Did you have a perfect sister?

This is an especially suitable book for readers who ever felt awkward and inferior to a sister who seemed to bask in favor from all sides. I first read it as an adult and was captivated by the characters and the parallel worlds of flesh-and-blood Elizabethan intrigue, and a fantastic underworld.

Timeless

This story is timeless! I loved reading it when in highschool and still love it 12 years later. The narrator is spot on! I wouldn’t
change a thing!

Note:I'm biased - I knew I loved the book going in

I am an avid reader of YA books - being of the opinion that they are generally better written and edited (being aimed at younger, more malleable minds seems to mean editors are more diligent about searching out typos - which throw me out of written books like a catapult. There are certainly exceptions to this rule, however.), and am always on the lookout for those books that contain female protagonists. Especially ones that don't fall into the typical damsel tropes. Here Elizabeth Marie Pope succeeded incredibly well. I adore Kate, and her pragmatic and logical view. It might not be the most in character for the typical girl her age, but it worked for me.

The book on a whole is very well written, and the atmosphere is very well-crafted. This is a WELL WRITTEN and WELL RESEARCHED book, and the category shouldn't chase off anyone. Truly, it's that good. The plot is slow to start, but the book is well - if deliberately, paced.

The reader is quite fitting and suits the style of writing very well. Kate doesn't sound like a flighty kid, and I was never jarred in my listening of a book I already knew very well.

I can't recommend this enough - although, to be honest, I think the print form is slightly more of a winner here, the audible is wonderful as well.

Amazing!

The way the way Jill Tanner reads this book drags you into the story so you never want it to end!

Waited for this audiobook for so long!

This book is a classic that I enjoyed back when it was on cassette, and now I can finally listen on my iPod. Jill Tanner's performance is strong, and her character voices are all distinct without being over the top. If you like historical fiction, romance or mysteries this story will hook you in- although it is considered a children's book it can b enjoyed by all ages. My one concern is that in some places the audio seems to go fuzzy for a few seconds at a time, but I'm not sure if this is a result of conversion from a less clear original recording.

An all time favourite

I just finished this for the 4th time!! It is worth your time. If I'm in a reading slump, this is what I fall back on. So, so good. Go read it.