45 minute dramatisation of a short story by Susanna Clarke
BBC Radio 4
pr. Elizabeth Allard
with Emma Fielding
Broadcast March 18th 2008, 2.15pm
“Mrs. Mabb was absolutely excellent. Everything I hoped for and more. Well done to Judith Adams for adapting the story and to Elizabeth Allard for producing. And thanks, of course, to the wonderful cast who brought the story to life. 9.5 out of 10. More, please!”
Friends of English Magic
Summary
A handsome soldier has been abducted by (or run passionately into the arms of) the amazing Mrs Mabb – known by all, feared by some and seen by very few – and his erstwhile lover is determined to win him back. Her sister and brother-in-law are equally determined to keep her safe from harm, but for all their loving care, she blunders (the obligatory thrice) out of her comfortable Austen-esque existence, though a movable door, into a terrifying, violent world which leaves her with battered face and bloodied feet. There is a malign guiding force in the mayhem, and, to triumph over it, Venetia must both piece together her scattered intelligence and leap into a place where mere intelligence alone will never go.
It is just possible (though by no means probable) that that is what Mrs Mabb has wanted, all along.
“…magic is part of what a man is, just as flight is part of what a bird is.”
‘Lady Catherine of Winchester’ / ‘Jane Tobias’ / Susanna Clarke
