The Little Minister

From the author of Peter Pan. Set in the fictional Scottish town of Thrums, a young minister finds himself caught between loyalty and love - the parish members' criticism and his love for a young Gypsy girl who turns out to be an educated and benevolent woman.©2007 Listener's Digest Inc (P)2007 Listener's Digest Inc

Barrie's rural Scotland of a long time ago

If you could sum up The Little Minister in three words, what would they be?

charming, unique, funny.

What other book might you compare The Little Minister to and why?

When a Man's Single, same author. Characters come alive with all their prejudices, convictions, dreams and hopes that make humans human.

Have you listened to any of Gordon Nicol’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Nicol's dialects are spot on; engagingly different to the American ear while remaining intelligible.

If you could take any character from The Little Minister out to dinner, who would it be and why?

The little minister himself. His absolute certitude about his place in life makes him adorable.

Any additional comments?

I would love to have this book in an unabridged version. I've read that. The full story introduces the reader to many other inhabitants of the tiny town with such deft characterizations and involvements, you become totally immersed in a culture that might otherwise seem very foreign to modern ways of thought. If you don't laugh out loud or at least smile at some of the passages and get hit in the heart at others, you're not quite as in tune with humanity as you might have thought you were.

The setting and the voices

I liked everything about it the words spoken for the heroine Babbie were disappointing not believable as a woman’s voice but the story was wonderful Now I want to read the book by JMBarrie and in my mind create my own settings and voices The narrator did an excellent job but the female voice was not as I would have liked it