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The Governess
- Narrated by: Freya Mavor
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
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The Governess
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Summary
Marion Crawford was 22 when she became governess to the young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret in 1933. A working-class girl with progressive ideas, she had intended to teach children in the Edinburgh slums. Instead, she had a ringside seat at some of the most seismic events of the 20th century.
The castles and palaces housed a family frozen in time. But outside the royal gates, poverty and unemployment were breeding unrest in 1930s Britain. Hitler was on the rise in Europe. If royalty was to survive, it must draw closer to the people. And so Marion took the princesses on tubes and buses, swimming at public baths, Christmas shopping at Woolworth’s.
Marion’s devotion meant personal sacrifices. Her passionate affair with a socialist ended tragically. The royals refused to let her leave to marry and start a family. But 17 years of dedication counted for nothing once she published The Little Princesses, a loving, harmless account of life as a royal governess. It earned Marion the Windsors’ lasting fury.
Basing her fiction on Marion’s own accounts, plus a wide range of historical sources and her own imagination, Wendy Holden shines a captivating light into the childhood of the world’s longest reigning monarch. This is a story of conflict and contradiction, of state dinners and hunger marches, of a left-winger amongst the ultimate conservatives, of a modern woman in an ancient institution. And the divided Britain of the 1930s: the unemployment, the opportunity gap, the rise of the far right. All of this resonates with our own troubled times.
Behind the scenes
Freya Mavor on recording The Governess during lockdownMore from the same
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What listeners say about The Governess
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- caroline
- 04-09-20
lovely book
a very interesting book taking you into the nursery of princess Elizabeth and princess Margaret right up to princess Elizabeth's marriage
lots of history and lots of more personal information from the woman who gave up almost everything to guide the Princesses was she treated badly have given up so much you listen and decide for yourself
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marie van der Merwe
- 08-09-20
Loyalty unbound
I loved every minute of this book.
It was very informative and well worth listening too
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JG
- 15-09-20
Brilliant
Excellent was hooked from the start, loved the narrator perfect for book, really good and addictive listen
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- V. Tennant
- 13-08-21
fascinating
Really enjoyed listening to this book. Made me realise how the Royal family back then were so detached from ordinary people.
Marion Crawford was never really appreciated or valued by her employers, or the Princeses for thst matter.
Such a sad ending to a devoted woman.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 31-07-22
A truly awesome story
This is a beautifully written book. I loved it. The story is absolutely amazing. Read with incredible emotion and expertise. I really could not stop listening to every word.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Victoria Orsini
- 24-04-22
Shame
I was really enjoying this
It's pretty good as a story. I was getting in to it but, as is sometimes the case, the narration let's the book down. I am so annoyed by it that I'm going to have to stop listening. After 2 hours. Mispronounced words, over and over.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Molly
- 29-06-22
Heavy going
This is potentially a great story of the governess to the Queen and her sister. But the heavy signposting of future events is clumsy and the narrator’s inability to pronounce duchess (Duch- ESS. Instead of duchuss) and governess (ditto) was intensely irritating and spoilt it.
If you like Royal history this is for you. But not for me.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Winifreda Williams
- 10-10-20
Different Lives
although i enjoyed itm not sure it should have been published during the Queens lifetime.some of it made me feel uncomfortable.history of wartime good.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jenny Cutler
- 16-09-20
Utterly delightful. Fabulous story.
Loved every bit of this story. Brilliantly research, written and read. A very important insight into education - as the Queen Mother saw it. Shocking!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Emma Griffin
- 21-09-20
Brilliant
A fantastic insight into a story I had never heard before. Beautifully written and the narrator was perfect. Highly recommended.
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