The Poor Clare
About this audiobook
Originally written for Charles Dickens’ Household Words magazine, The Poor Clare is a dark, gothic short novel of thwarted love and a family curse that vividly illustrates the social tensions of Victorian England.
The intentional killing of a woman’s dog unleashes a torrent of rage. In her desire for revenge, the woman curses the dog’s killer: All that the murderer loves most, he will lose.
This haunting tale brilliantly demonstrates Elizabeth Gaskell’s understanding of the tensions between Catholics and Protestants and the harsh realities of class society.
About the author
Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) was born in London but grew up in the north of England in the village of Knutsford. In 1832, she married the Reverend William Gaskell and had four daughters and one son who died in infancy. Her first novel, Mary Barton, was published in 1848 and won the attention of Charles Dickens; most of her later work was published in his journals. Among her notable works are the novels North and South and Cranford, as well as her famous biography The Life of Charlotte Bronte.
Derek Perkins is a professional narrator and voice actor. He has earned numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration, as well as numerous Society of Voice Arts nominations. AudioFile magazine named him a Best Voice consecutively in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Augmented by a knowledge of three foreign languages and a facility with accents, he has narrated numerous titles in a wide range of fiction and nonfiction genres.
