Recently I’ve had the opportunity to re-read some classic novels. One of these was Mary Webb’s Precious Bane, which was first published in 1924.

One aspect that struck me on this reading was what an essentially modern book Precious Bane is, for the following reasons:

• it’s told in first person point of view, from the perspective of Prue Sarn, with no intrusions or interpolations from the author as “omniscient narrator”, so characteristic of fiction in this era;
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• disability is a theme of the book , in the sense that Prue has a hair lip (“hair shotten”) and its effect on her life and character is central to the story;
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• the book is also a psychological study of the effect of ambition and avarice on Prue’s brother, Gideon Sarn — the “precious bane”* of the title;
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• issues such as pregnancy out of wedlock, and prejudice and cruelty within a small community are also addressed in a way that heralds social attitudes through the mid to late 20th century, rather than reflecting the 19th century mores of Webb’s upbringing.

Needless to say, there is still plenty of Victorian drama, melodrama even, in Precious Bane and the writing still is also grounded in the Victorian style — but overall, I believe it is a novel with a modern sensibility that will “speak” to contemporary readers. It did to me, at any rate.

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* Note: Some commentators suggest that the “precious bane” of the title refers to Prue’s hair lip. Although this may be implicit in the development of her character, my reading of the book was that it explicitly referred to Gideon Sarn’s love of gold (avarice) that is the “bane”: e.g. “Yet it was an innocent gold, and not that gold which is called the bane.”