
The listener is invited into a recorded chronicle from a Tudor household, written by a matriarch who uncovered an older family manuscript while sorting her father's library. She describes the modest estate of Stanton Court in 1529, the rhythm of daily chores, beehives, and solemn observances of saints' days, offering a gentle yet precise window into the lives of the gentry on the edge of the Reformation.
Interwoven with the ordinary are hints of a lingering family legend—a mysterious ‘Fair Dame of Stanton’ said to be part spirit, part mortal, whose ethereal beauty reappears in successive generations. The narrator also notes her grandmother’s solitary devotion, secret copies of English scriptures, and the uneasy blend of old Catholic rites with emerging reformist thought, creating a subtle undercurrent of intrigue amid everyday concerns of food, trade, and household management.
A listening experience that feels like sitting by a hearth with a thoughtful lady of the past, balancing domestic detail with whispers of myth. The gentle cadence of her pen invites listeners into a quietly powerful world.
Language
en
Duration
~7 hours (416K characters)
Series
The Stanton-Corbet chronicles.
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
London: John F. Shaw and Co., 1903.
Release date
2023-12-15
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1826–1899
Best known for writing morally grounded stories for young readers, this 19th-century American author produced dozens of books that were widely circulated through the American Sunday-School Union. Her fiction often mixed domestic drama, religious feeling, and a strong belief in character formation.
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