Kitty Alone
Sabine Baring-Gould
Read by MaryAnn
Kate Quarm is a bright and sensitive girl. She lives with her aunt and uncle at Coombe Cellers, a farmhouse, eating house and store occupying a promontory in the estuary of the Teign, in the south of Devon. Kate's father is a dreamer, always off on the next get-rich-quick scheme, wandering across the countryside with his donkey cart. It seems that no one has the time or the inclination to try to understand Kitty and she is left very much "alone." But when she ferries the son of the richest farmer in the neighborhood across the Teign and he falls head over heals for the pretty girl, it seems that the fortunes of Kitty Alone are about to change. Or maybe not - for Rose Ash has marked John out as her own and is keen on defending her claim while Kitty's thoughts center more on the stars and the tides (and the new schoolmaster) than on the ardent boy next door.
The Rev'd Sabine Bearing Gould was a keen observer of people who filled his books with a broad cast of characters, humorously drawn from the 19th Century English countryside. (Summary by MaryAnn) (13 hr 8 min)
Chapters
| 01 - The Philosopher's Stone | 12:08 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 02 - A Lusus Naturae | 15:09 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 03 - All Into Gold | 16:20 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 04 - The Atmospheric Railway | 14:13 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 05 - On a Mud-Bank | 16:08 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 06 - A Capture | 14:38 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 07 - A Release | 14:19 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 08 - An Atmosphere of Love | 15:44 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 09 - Convalescence | 11:12 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 10 - The New Schoolmaster | 16:47 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 11 - Discords | 17:13 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 12 - Daffodils | 16:39 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 13 - The Spirit of Inquiry | 16:34 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 14 - To the Fair | 11:36 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 15 - A Reason for Everything | 14:57 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 16 - The Dancing Bear | 9:34 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 17 - Insured | 14:45 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 18 - Brazil Nuts | 15:08 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 19 - Suggestions of Evil | 17:48 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 20 - A Face In The Water | 15:23 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 21 - An Offer | 15:07 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 22 - A Race for Life | 13:23 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 23 - Borrowing | 16:31 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 24 - Shavings | 16:03 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 25 - Borrowing Again | 13:43 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 26 - Silver Penicks | 15:11 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 27 - Trouble | 14:55 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 28 - Alternatives | 18:17 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 29 - A Friend Gained | 12:30 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 30 - Under the Mulberry Tree | 17:36 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 31 - On Mischief Bent | 15:02 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 32 - Jason in the Way | 11:18 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 33 - One Crime Leads to Another | 12:41 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 34 - And Yet Another | 14:11 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 35 - Unsuccessful | 13:25 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 36 - All in Vain | 13:29 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 37 - The Answer of Cain | 13:41 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 38 - Wanted at Last | 14:47 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 39 - One for Thee and Two for Me | 16:25 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 40 - A Great Fear | 15:06 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 41 - Taking Shape | 13:45 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 42 - An Ugly Hint | 15:27 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 43 - Much Cry And a Little Wool | 16:50 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 44 - Puddicombe in F | 13:36 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 45 - Daylight | 14:54 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 46 - A Triumph | 14:29 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 47 - Parted | 14:55 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 48 - A Shadow-Shape | 11:58 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 49 - Flagrante Delicto | 14:35 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 50 - The Third Fire | 13:28 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 51 - The Pass'n's Prescription | 11:33 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 52 - In Court | 15:48 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 53 - Jason's Story | 14:20 | Read by MaryAnn |
| 54 - Con Affettuoso Caprizio | 13:41 | Read by MaryAnn |
Reviews
excellent reading & an unexpected story
jaded_grl
from the summary, i thought this was going to be a sweet little love story... so the murder, attemped murders, arson, fraud, etc took me totally off guard. it was an excellent story, there was a sweet love story in it as well. the characters all had amazing personalities. the reader did a very nice job reading crisp & clear (and singing).
Kitty Alone
TheBookworm
Charming rendition of a Thomas Hardy-esque (well, sort of...) novel of rural life. The story is well constructed and the characters are, by and large, three dimensional -- Kate's father may be the best drawn. It's not hard to see the one with whom the author, a C of E clergyman, identifies. MaryAnn has a pleasant voice. Her reading is low key and does not impose itself on the listener. She has a fine singing voice, too. The sound quality of this recording is high. Thank you! TheBookworm (Manchester, UK)
Excellent
Ro
I needed a book with mold twists and a happy ending, this was it. Thank you Librivox and MaryAnn. A fabulous reading with singing. Perfect!
A good read/listen
JackiLyn Friesen
Just muster thru the first few chapters... speed up the playback or whatever you need to do to get thru the wordy parts... this is a captivating book with unexpected twists and turns. It is very well read! The amount of chapters may intimidate you, but they are short ones, stopping at just the wrong/right? places, so that you must continue on to the next one. And now, it is 12:30am and high time for me to get to bed! 🥱
Really enjoyed this
ClaireLA
Mary Ann does a fine job reading this tale of a young girl, Kitty, who is alone in the real sense of being among very few people who understand her. Great well-drawn characters in this book along with a good story. I should mention that I really enjoyed the parts where Mary Ann sings. She has a lovely voice, well-suited to the old bits of songs sprinkled throughout the book.
Romance Lies & Surprises
TLocke
Anyone who has lived in a small town will recognize the patterns of behavior in this book. The expectations of who will marry whom; expected behaviors of natives vs outsiders. The chapter on the town orchestra playing a newly-minted "Masterpiece" and facing moral decisions of attributed guilt is hilarious. The story is well read.
good yarn
The Momtionary
Romance, nature appreciation, coming of age, reflection on human nature, plot twists. Reader does overall very good job with lovely singing, smooth sentence follow-through, and character voices. She consistently mispronounces author's name and a few certain words, not many, though. Like another reviewer said, there are Victorian attitudes, no surprise, Baring-Gould lived through Queen Victoria's reign.
Neat Story, Great Reader
Julia D
This is my first Baring-Gould book and it was well worth it. A quaint style with unexpected moments of absurd humor. Very enjoyable. Mary-Anne did an amazing job of reading this book. Her voice is very clear and soothing and her expression is good.